DOUGLAS ON HIGH ROAD IN SEARCH FOR MEANING.Byline: Bob Thomas For the Irish footballer, see . Bob Thomas (born March 1, 1965 in Appalachia, Virginia) is a radio personality, actor, and writer. He was one of the top radio announcers in Knoxville, Tennessee for 25 years. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. He survived an air crash that killed two men. He underwent back surgery to relieve pain caused by the crash. He suffered a stroke that destroyed his voice, an actor's nightmare. And Kirk Douglas is still here at 80, working to gain back his voice and talking of a movie next year with his son, Michael. The veteran actor spoke about his recovery, his hopes and his new book, ``Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning,'' in the living room of his handsomely decorated house in the heart of Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. . He looked thin in a black sports shirt and chinos chi·no n. pl. chi·nos 1. A coarse twilled cotton fabric used for uniforms and sometimes work or sports clothes. 2. Trousers made of a coarse twilled cotton. Often used in the plural. , but the famed Douglas energy seemed only slightly dimmed. He talked deliberately, articulating the words with a care that bespoke be·spoke v. Past tense and a past participle of bespeak. adj. 1. Custom-made. Said especially of clothes. 2. Making or selling custom-made clothes: a bespoke tailor. long hours of speech therapy. When Douglas accepted his honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievement last March, his speech seemed labored. It is greatly improved. Douglas said that he started writing ``The Search for Meaning'' after the 1991 collision in Santa Paula of a small plane and the helicopter in which he was taking off. The pilot, 46, and a high school senior in the plane were killed instantly. ``I was really tormented,'' he said. ``I don't think a day has passed without my thinking of David (Tomlinson) and Lee (Manelski), the two young men who were in the airplane when we smacked. ``You have to think, `Wow, I was in my '70s; they were young. How does that happen?' I thought a lot about that after I heard about poor (Princess) Diana and her boyfriend. It makes you realize you don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. anything about life. ``That's why I started to write: because I realized that all of life is climbing a mountain. Your life is a climb, and you never really reach the top.'' He still remembers nothing of the crash. The stroke is a vivid memory. It happened last year, three weeks after back surgery to relieve the incessant pain caused by the accident (and, his doctor indicated, the result of performing too many stunts as an action star). ``I had progressed from a walker to a cane and finally, I walked to the corner and back. I began to feel terrific,'' he recalled. ``My wife celebrated my recovery from my back by ordering a manicure. I was in my room having the manicure when suddenly I felt the funniest sensation. It was like what I'm doing with my finger (drawing from his temple to the jaw). ``I started to explain - `wub wub wub' - I couldn't talk! My manicurist happened to have been a nurse in Israel. She immediately called my wife, who was at Barbara Sinatra's house. She called my doctor, and he said, `Can he walk?' She said I could, and he said, `Take him to the hospital; that will be quicker than the ambulance.' '' The doctor was relieved that Douglas could walk; that meant his side was not paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. . But his power of speech was gone. ``You're suddenly aware of how much you take for granted in life,'' he remarked. ``We think something, and we speak it. Now I was like a child: I had to learn all the sounds. You realize how complicated it is. The brain on the left side governs the cheek muscles, the lips, the tongue, the teeth. ``I thought, wow, how people talk is so complicated! ``It made me realize how narcissistic nar·cis·sism also nar·cism n. 1. Excessive love or admiration of oneself. See Synonyms at conceit. 2. A psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in my life was. Like most people, we are so wrapped up in what we're doing. I did movie after movie. You don't stop to look up at the sky and see the stars and realize how small we are.'' During his 50 years in 82 films, Kirk Douglas has amassed enough honors for any actor: the Presidential Medal of Honor Medal of Honor highest American military decoration for wartime gallantry. [Am. Hist.: Misc.] See : Bravery for his work as U.S. goodwill ambassador; Life Achievement Award of the American Film Institute American Film Institute (AFI), nonprofit organization established in Washington, D.C., in 1967 by the National Endowment for the Arts to preserve and catalog American films and television, to provide work grants for new and established filmmakers, and to increase ; Oscar nominations for ``Champion,'' ``The Bad and the Beautiful,'' ``Lust for Life''; Chavalier of the Legion of Honor Legion of Honor: see decorations, civil and military. from France; and others. Still, he wants to do more movies. He brightened as he discussed a future project with son Michael. ``We had planned to do a movie before I had my stroke,'' he said. ``Michael said, `You just work with your speech therapy, then we'll do the movie.' I said, `Michael, why don't you work with my therapist. Then, when you speak like I do, we will do the movie.' ``He has a sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour . In fact, all of my family - my wife, my four sons - they kid me. That is so helpful. Because, you could say, `I can't talk, I can't walk because of my back,' and you could just lie in a corner. I refused to do that. ``So, I am hopeful we will do the movie next year. We can incorporate my slight - I underline the word `slight' - impediment of speech with a line of explanation in the script.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Kirk Douglas: ``I realized that all of life is climbing a mountain. Your life is a climb, and you never really reach the top.'' |
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