I'd Rather Talk About Michael J. Fox By Connie Schultz

[babylonsister]

https://www.creators.com/read/connie-schultz/02/21/id-rather-talk-about-michael-j-fox

I'd Rather Talk About Michael J. Fox
By Connie Schultz
February 18, 2021 5 min read


snip//

Now the video of Limbaugh jeering at Michael J. Fox and accusing him of faking his symptoms is making the rounds again. You may have seen it in some of the coverage. I don't know how this makes him feel, but I can encourage you to listen to what he has to say.

Last November, Fox released his fourth book: "No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality." It is a meditation on aging, told by a man whose body betrayed him long ago. After 40 years in public life, he is "straddling the void."

"I'm probably the only person who has been featured on the cover of Rolling Stone and AARP in the same year," he writes. "I'm living the life of a retired person, a decade too soon. My world is contracting, not expanding. In terms of the space-time continuum, I'm closer to my exit than to my entrance point."

And yet.

"When I visit the past now, it is for wisdom and experience, not for regret or shame. I don't attempt to erase it, only to accept it. Whatever my physical circumstances are today, I will deal with them and remain present. If I fall, I will rise up."

Repeatedly, he insists, "With gratitude, optimism becomes sustainable."

Not one word about the rabid, millionaire talk-show host who held him up to scorn and ridicule.

Moving forward, I hope to follow his lead.

[UpInArms]

1. MJF has become his best self

I have long said that as we age, we do not really change, we just become more of who we are.

[Atticus]

2. Anyone wondering what "True Grit" really is should read Michael J. Fox's remarks. He is awesome

in his "goodness" and inspires us to try to "walk the walk".

[marble falls]

3. Its a deceptively simple looking path: easy to see and hard to get on. Its been a struggle ...

... for me since about a year before the last election. It got even harder after Jan 6.

A lot of here need to look onto the meanness some of us (me to my shock) have allowed to develop inside us from the ex-President* and his basket of deplorables and their disaster.

I do not want to turn into the Democratic version of them to fight them.

[Collimator]

30. You've said it well, friend.

There are times when I despair for my soul because I remember the person who was capable of thinking through her anger and finding a compassionate perspective towards even those whose actions and attitudes I found despicable.

That is why I refer to T***p as the anti-Mr. Rogers. He truly brings out the worst in everyone.

[MyOwnPeace]

4. Thanks, Babylon.......

Without you posting this I probably never would have seen it - beautiful story........

[niyad]

5. Thank you, Michael J. Fox, and Connie Schultz.

[patricia92243]

6. Limbaugh and Trump really are blood brothers. Making fun of sick/handicapped

people- the list goes on and on.

Both are so repulsive. One down, one to go.

[housecat]

21. Missing a heart, they are the ones who are truly sick and handicapped

[eggplant]

7. It's an excellent read. n/t

[Skittles]

32. absolutely

I've read all his books.

[Bradshaw3]

8. K&R

We can't let these people turn us into them. The world is a better place without those who shall not be named. But to focus on them so much doesn't serve us well. Fox is an inspiration; his opposites aren't. Lots of good comments here.

[mountain grammy]

9. Beautiful. thanks for posting..

Connie Schultz is a treasure, as is Michael J Fox.

[littlemissmartypants]

10. I want to keep my soul intact.

I can identify and relish the sentiment.

Thanks for sharing this babylonsister.

❤lmsp

[bronxiteforever]

11. This is wonderful,humane and wise

[Cozmo]

12. Thanks for posting, personally it was good to read this

[Warren_Pointe]

13. My mom loved Michael J. Fox until

limbaugh went after him. I'll never understand how she could choose a junkie as her messiah. She was a hateful witch, and I will never forgive either of them. Now, she must be in bliss since they are both rotting in hell together.

[twodogsbarking]

14. There are very few people the quality of

MJ Fox. If you feel otherwise then I respectfully say fuck you.

[TheRickles]

15. In the same vein, here's a lovely recent interview with MJF:

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/nov/21/michael-j-fox-every-step-now-is-a-frigging-math-problem-so-i-take-it-slow

[LymphocyteLover]

17. did he used to be conservative or only played one on TV?

[dsc]

20. he definitely played one

but at least in his adulthood he has been a liberal. I don't recall the extent to which he identified with Alex Keaton's beliefs when he played him.

[Blue Hal]

22. Just a Role

But even Alex P. Keaton was a truly nice guy inside, unlike the anarchists/nihilists/terrorists who call themselves conservatives today!

[LymphocyteLover]

25. true!

[luvtheGWN]

28. He was never a conservative.

He was born and grew up in British Columbia, got acting experience on a couple of CBC series, and then moved to LA.

[birdographer]

19. Great interview

Thanks for the link!

[LymphocyteLover]

16. thank you for this-- what a beautiful story

[mollie8]

18. Wonderful Outlook and Post

What a wonderful way to look at life. We should all be humbled by this. Thank you.

[LaMouffette]

23. Thank you so much for posting this, babylon sister! I love Michael J. Fox and I've read his previous

autobiography called Lucky Man. I highly recommend that one and definitely plan to read this latest one. I didn't know he had this one out there, so thank you for the information!

[MyMission]

24. Born in 1961 (like me), we turn 60 this year!

As a contemporary, I have always followed his remarkable career and his life.

I remember reading that several people he worked with also developed early onset Parkinson's. This snip is from Wikipedia.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Fox

The causes of Parkinson's disease are not well understood, and may include genetic and environmental factors. Fox is one of at least four cast members of Leo & Me who developed early-onset Parkinson's. According to Fox, this is not enough people to be defined as a cluster so has not been well researched.[53] He told Hadley Freeman of The Guardian in late 2020: "I can think of a thousand possible scenarios: I used to go fishing in a river near paper mills and eat the salmon I caught; I've been to a lot of farms; I smoked a lot of pot in high school when the government was poisoning the crops. But you can drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out."[53]

Several other noteworthy people born in 1961 include:
Barak Obama
George Clooney
Eddie Murphy
Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Princess Diana

We are all closer to our exit point than our entrance, unless we live to be 120. He is a shining example of perseverance.

[ALBliberal]

33. Also 1961 here. I will never forget when my daughter

and I learned she shared Obama’s August 4 birthday and I was born in the same year 🤍 MJF pure class.

[Mary Mac]

26. The more I learn about Rush, the more I hate him.

[crickets]

27. Thank you so much for posting this, babylonsister.

I adore Michael J. Fox. I don't know how he manages to move through his circumstances with such grace and positivity, but somehow he always does. I could not admire him more, and it makes me so glad to know that he still finds a way to tackle life with joy and gratitude. What an amazing person.

[dhill926]

29. well said...

[MustLoveBeagles]

31. He's an inspiration

Rush made his elderly mother cry.

[malaise]

34. I will add

and MJF is still alive = that is all