Growing up, Michael J. Fox was sort of like my big brother, being a couple of years older than me. If I was a character on FAMILY TIES, I would have been a classmate of Mallory’s. Such was the impact of that show (squeezed in between Cosby and Cheers) that I suspect everyone in my generation felt like part of the family. He was such a nice guy that everyone cheered for him. I think we all hoped for success like his, but speaking for my generation, there is one thought that I know we all share, that at fortysomething---we’re not THAT old yet. And certainly not old enough to have Parkinson’s Disease (PD), In case you didn’t know, this is a disease normally affecting patients in their 60’s. And Michael J. Fox has got it. This disease has been so powerful that it has taken over not only his life, but also his reputation, such that almost everyone knows him today because of his PD advocacy and not his stellar acting career. What I remember of Michael J. Fox was that he was Canadian. I thought he was from Toronto, but he was actually from Chilliwack (a tiny town near Vancouver). He became famous playing the lead character, Alex Keaton, in Family Ties during the 1980’s. While on the show, he made the three phenomenally successful BACK TO THE FUTURE movies, rocketing him to fame. After the TV show folded, he did a couple of moderately successful romantic comedies---THE SECRET OF MY SUCCESS, DOC HOLLYWOOD---in the early 90’s, before starring in a string of bombs---THE HARD WAY, BRIGHT LIGHTS BIG CITY, LIFE WITH MIKEY---that seriously dimmed his star. He made it back into the limelight with a supporting role in the fantastic AMERICAN PRESIDENT (with Michael Douglas and Annette Benning), from which he landed another TV role in the mid-90’s with SPIN CITY. Sometime near the end of 1998, he declared that he had PD, and shocked the world into recognizing this illness. After the turn of the millennium, he became too shaky to work in front of a camera, so he continued to work by using his distinctive voice for animated films like STUART LITTLE. This is the rough chronology of this biography, too. Still, until reading this book, little did I realize that Michael was like a clown, happy on the outside but sad on the inside. By the time he made his early onset PD public in 1998, he had been struggling with the disease for 7 years. This was through a period where his career almost crashed, where he was resurrected into a TV show, and had 3 kids. Also during this time, the father he looked up to died, he struggled with a drinking problem, he denied his PD because he could still control it through medication, and his marriage almost fell apart because he was in so much denial. Fox holds nothing back in this book. From his feelings about the disease, his wife Tracy Polland (the love of his life), his GED, his fans (we’re in here, and you’re out there, and frankly, we like it that way), and show business. He wrote the book without a ghost writer, and the honesty and candor is very moving. He directs the book, not exactly chronologically, through his early career, his successes, his failures, his denial, his therapies (alcohol, psychological, and medical), and his treatments (including a funny brain surgery scene). He uses flashbacks to both start new sections (such as, by his own admission, a predilection to make life changing decisions whilst on a beach) like where he decides to quit Spin City, then he carries on with his life story with feelings, the disease, its effect on him, his fears, his tricks to hide the disease, and the way people around him react and the way he wants them to react. Then there is another flashback, or another flashback during the flashback. This technique works really well because it tends to put the same subject on the same page, instead of in a strict chronology where a reader has to keep flipping back and forth. Throughout the book, his comedic timing is spot on, and the occasionally gallows humor is so funny that I laughed out loud. In telling his story, two things are immediately apparent. Fox did not earn his success just by his good looks. Here is a first rate creative talent. The flashback/cut in technique has been tried in other contemporary biographies, but few have managed to do it Fox’s charm and humor. At the first Spin City live show after his PD announcement, he went into the audience and someone asked how he was feeling. “Better than I look,” he responded. Then waiting just a moment, he continued. “And I don’t know about you, but I think I look pretty darn cute!” But more profoundly, and here the book really touched me, he shared how PD forced him to let go of his own life. Like many comedians, his control of the audience and their laughter was a drug. And he tried to use the same technique of controlling reactions when he found out about PD. His own insecurities made him afraid of their reactions. He was afraid that Tracy would leave him, that his son would be afraid for him, that his producers would fire him, that his audience would no longer laugh at him. His goal in life was to be free, and the more he tried to control others, the less free he became. What he found out was that the more he let go, and the less control he tried to apply to others, the more they responded to him, and the more they showed the better sides of their natures to him. And the more he let go, the freer he became. I was touched when he admitted that he could not deal with the illness by himself and started to seek Psychological help---and he describes, without any puffing, how that help balanced him out. His LUCKY GUY tag comes from this opening up, which Fox believes would not have been possible if it was not forced upon him by PD. He even talks about the lawsuit in the mid 90’s, when at the nadir of his career, some gold diggers tried to sue him because they found defects in a house that they bought from him. He described the agony of sitting through the trial (which he ultimately won) while trying to hide his disease from everyone. PD, or the Shaking Palsy, is the same disease that also afflicts Mohammed Ali and Janet Reno. The book talks a lot about PD, including its definition, diagnosis, prognosis, and ongoing research. Not really knowing anyone with the disease, I still learned a lot. Now, whenever my left hand trembles (one of the first symptoms), I wonder if I, too, am so afflicted. I was inspired by his maturity in dealing with the illness---like when he settled an argument between Barbara Walters and Tracy during the TV interview where he went public with PD. I also shed a tear (hey, I’m a modern guy) when he first told Tracy and she held him crying repeating “Through sickness and health…” over and over again. But the book also satisfies my inner gossip. It is generously studded with juicy factoids. Did you know, for example, that when Fox negotiated for his Alex Keaton role that he was such a starving actor that he couldn’t afford to have Pioneer Chicken because he needed the money for the bus fare. Or that Tracy Pollard only appeared in 7 episodes of Family Ties? Or that during a showing of Back to the Future, he sat next to Princess Diana, and couldn’t enjoy the movie because he needed to pee so badly? Or that, as a child, he owned a white mouse---which he later did the voice for in Stuart Little. Or, more seriously, the difference between Dopamine and L-Dopamine. The book is filled with these anecdotes to make it easier to get through the heavy demons and illness stuff. I am reviewing the audiobook, read by Michael himself. This is a smashing performance, and since he is talking about his own life, we can definitely hear the love in his voice when he talks about Tracy and his son Sam. There is a catch when he describes a scene where he gets Sam to help him stop his fingers from shaking. But the PD is there. There is a definite shaky undertone to his voice at many points during the performance. One of the symptoms of the illness is that it eventually takes speech away, too. So I just hope that this doesn’t happen too soon with Fox. In the end, I hope he is right, and that PD will be cured by the end of this decade (he tells the Executive Director of his research foundation that she should consider herself fired if she finds herself organizing a tenth anniversary dinner). If, as he believes, comedy is just tragedy plus time. Then I wish a happy ending (a comedy) upon him. I wish there was some way that I could give him more time. Because such an enlightened guy, such a lucky guy, deserves a sequel. A sequel where, in his own words, he gets to dance at his children’s wedding.
This is a touching story about the bravery and resilience of a person who has charged himself with beating the odds. I believe biographies are the best books to read and this one only strengthens that belief. Fox is a funny person in-spite of his obvious predicament. This book covers his struggles with his personal, family, and public life and how this debilitating disease has in someways helped him to become a better person. I find it remarkable that he is able to say that.One of the interesting things I found out by reading this book is that ironically, not only was Fox really bad in school save drama, music and art he actually dropped out of high school to pursue his career in acting. Born and raised in Canada, he like others knew that to conquer "Hollywood" he would need to make a journey.Fox describes the whirlwind life he lived with substance abuse as well as his own self-destructive tendencies not to mention the hidden life of Parkinson's Disease. Fox tells the tail of having to figure out when he needed to take his meds to ensure he would not find himself "off" as he puts it. Fox tells of his first signs of his disease, the surgery he tried to quell the tremors as well as the realization that the disease "was doing what it was suppose to do" referring to progressively taking over his body. He described the difficulty of working in a career where he was in the public eye and hiding a dark secret that could end his career while popping medicine routinely to get through the next scene.Later when Fox was unable to work as before, he took on a role of the face of PD. He sat before a Senate sub-committee twice to lobby for funds to help research for the disease.A couple of things I want to note that is outside the review of the actual book. The amount of money that out government flushes down the toilet on wars, programs that are not reviewed, tracked and unfunded if no producing while we have the ability to help those in need here in our own country. I would rather close the 900+ bases overseas, stop foreign aid, kill useless programs, scale back the government and use some of the saving to help fund cures for diseases. I support the stem cell research because I am diabetic and I too, could be helped by its research. Especially when the embryos are discarded anyhow.The second thing is, Barbara Walters is a $&@*. During a pre-interview with Fox, and as he was leaving, he struggled to get his jacket on. She asked him if that was because of the PD, he answered, Yes. She wanted him to show the audience during the interview how he struggled with the jacket as if he was a circus act. Has she no shame? The man is pouring out his guts on an already difficult thing and now you want to exploit him for you ratings. Fox's wife stepped in and said NO WAY. Well Played Tracy, well played.
What do You think about Lucky Man: A Memoir (2002)?
I loved it. I read it in one sitting. That proved to be beneficial because he jumps around (but not in a disjointed way, it keeps the reader's interest) and refers to parts he previously wrote. With not many opportunities to read by myself because I care for young children, I think I would have forgotten what he was referring to.Reading this book felt like a conversation with a close friend. It made me love Michael J. Fox even more. I identified with his desire to be and do something other than what the factory spit out and was depressed with him as he wrote about his lows in coming to terms with accepting the life that he was given. I was inspired by his ability to get out of the downward spiral and rise above his circumstances. I admire his ability to see negative patterns in his life and change them. There are so many facets to a person, especially to a person who has dealt with and overcome trials. I say overcome because I think he has overcome Parkinson's, emotionally anyway. Our bodies will be imperfect. We were born to die; we just have different paths to get there. And life is about how well we endure the path to the grave. What great personal growth he went through and I'm glad he decided to share it with his fans.
—Amanda
I grew up watching Michael J. Fox play Alex P. Keaton on "Family Ties". I think one of the remarkable things he did, as an actor on that show, was to take a potentially completely unlikeable character and humanize him. I think a good deal of that is there is a certain "niceness" to Michael J. Fox the person that just comes through on the screen. It definitely comes through in this book.Like many people, I was shocked when he went public with his Parkinson's diagnosis. It felt especially horrible because he seems like such a truly nice person- and nice people don't deserve these kinds of things. Especially not a young person with a young family. Because I had this image of him, certain revelations in this book came as a shock- like his drinking problem. He credits his Parkinson's diagnosis with leading him to stop drinking. Indeed, he credits Parkinson's with "forcing" him to make many choices that made him a better man. Hence the title, "Lucky Man" which he says without a trace of irony and a great deal of sincerity. That's not to say he didn't have "Why me?" moments. Of course he did.Fox's description of himself as a "lucky man" reminds me of one of my favorite memories of my mother, who died of stomach cancer a few years ago. We were sitting in the waiting room at her oncologist's office, waiting to get some blood work done and her chemo treatment. She looks around the room and tells me, "I'm lucky." Of course I look at her like she's insane- she's only in her 50's and she has inoperable stomach cancer. So, I give her "the Look". She looks at me and says, "Look at that old man and his daughter and her 4 kids." I look and there's an old man with his daughter and her 4 kids under the age of 5. My mother says, "You think the daughter is here supporting her father like you're here for me, right? I met her, the daughter, and she has leukemia." My mother then instructs me to look at another grandfather, his daughter, and their 10-ish year old child. I know what's coming, but she said it anyway. She tells me, "I met the boy last week when we were both getting blood drawn." My mother looks at me and says, "I'm lucky because I lived long enough to see you grown and for my grandchildren to remember me when I'm gone." Less than a year later, my mother was dead at 58, but she insisted up to the end that she was "lucky".Michael J. Fox has retired from acting, but began a new career as an activist for Parkinson's. Especially research devoted to finding a cure, which he says many researchers think is only a decade away. I hope he's wrong and a cure comes sooner. Highly recommend this bookRating: 4 starshttp://www.michaeljfox.org/
—Shay
Patrick BatesEnglish 8 (B)1/27/15 Lucky Man: A Memoir By Michael J FoxList of Characters:Michael J foxTracy Pollan (Fox’s Wife)Sam Fox (Fox’s First Born)Phyllis Fox (Fox’s Mother)William Fox (Fox’s Father Lucky Man is a powerful, yet humorous memoir by Michael J Fox. At age 30 Fox was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s disease. PD is a disorder of the central nervous system, causing your brain to lose control of body movement. This memoir underlines Fox’s life with Parkinson’s, his story of struggle and adaptation is truly inspiring. Fox’s memoir is essentially a recording of how the life shattering news affected his family and booming acting career. As you read further into his story you watch as Fox and his family not only came to terms with the diseases but go further and help people all over the world crippled Parkinson’s disease. With fascinating detail and his trademark humor Michael J Fox describe his inspirational story of overcoming coming Parkinson’s disease. Michael J Fox became an acting legend at just 21 when cast the part of Alex P Keaton on the highly acclaimed sitcom Family Ties. From there Fox starred in blockbusters like The Back to the Future Trilogy and Teen Wolf. As Fox put in Lucky Man “By 21, I was earning six figures a week. By 23, I had a Ferrari. It was nuts.” To Fox the sky was the limit, nothing could stop him. In 1991, however, the unthinkable happened. What seemed to just be a shaking pinky do to stress or nerves turned out to be a debilitating disease that affects more than a million Americans a year. Although, Fox refused to announce his battle with Parkinson’s publicly for seven years his career slowed and soon was forced to stand down from his hit show Spin City. Yet, Michael J Fox’s condition only strengthened his bond with family. His wife Tracy Pollan both figuratively and literally carried Fox through years of struggle, depression, and alcoholism until he was ready to change the world… and that is just what he did with The Michael J Fox in 2000 foundation. Since then The Michael J Fox Foundation has become the largest investors and leading researchers on Parkinson’s. Despite his unimaginable obstacles Fox has never let his disease define him, and with it has touched millions of lives. Michael J Fox’s story has always been fascinating to me so when I first encountered this book I knew I would have to try it…. And I loved it. When I began Lucky Man I was immediately hooked by his meaningful words mixed with is unmistakable wit. This book has a particullary meaning due to my grandfather Thomas Bolster dying from Parkinson's disease before I was born ; therefore, Fox helped me understand how PD must had affected him and his family. Especially, when Fox began to speak about his incredible foundation my mind went directly to my grandfather. I could not help to think about how my Grandfather could still be alive today if a man as dedicated and successful as Fox was alive then. Fox’s memoire has inspired me has made me laugh and brought me closer to my grandfather. And I can say that is more than any book has done for me
—Patrick Bates
