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Charlton Heston,
RIP -- Part One of
Two
Editor's note. Please send your comments
to daveandrusko@hotmail.com.
"No, it's not going to
go away [Alzheimer's], but you have to take it as it comes; do the best with
your life you can. And what can't be cured must be endured, as somebody
said."
Charlton Heston, in his last public interview with
ABC's Peter Jennings in 2002.
If I may, let me take a few minutes of
your time to explain why we would devote a column to the passing of Charlton
Heston. And it's not because of his many impressive roles ('Ben Hur," "The
Ten Commandments," "Touch of Evil," "Will Penny," etc.), although I have
always considered Heston to be a vastly unappreciated and underrated actor.
Not many pro-lifers
know that Heston provided the narrative introduction to the1987 pro-life
video, "Eclipse of Reason." The film, created by Dr. Bernard Nathanson, was
a sequel to Nathanson's enormously influential video, "The Silent Scream."
Nathanson at one
point was the medical director of the largest abortion clinic in the Western
Hemisphere. One of the earliest and most prominent converts to the pro-life
cause, Nathanson is best known in pro-life circles for his book Aborting
America, and for his two videos.
But there is also
this: the quiet courage, unwavering resolution, and sheer bravery that
Heston displayed in facing the onset of Alzheimer's. With equal parts
dignity and grace, he released a video in August 2002, which "stunned the
entertainment world," as the Washington Post's Stephen Hunter wrote today
"when he made a poignant and moving videotaped address announcing his
illness."
This, of course,
reminds me of the equally brave letter President Reagan sent to the American
people that discussed the President's diagnosis of Alzheimer disease.
In the interview with
Jennings, Heston and his wife, Lydia, discussed unflinchingly what they
would face together. Lydia said she had talked with Nancy Reagan, who was
the first person to call right after the videotaped was released.
Asked what she had
said to her, Lydia told Jennings that Mrs. Reagan "didn't attempt to gloss
over it or pretend it was less that it was"--and that the hardest part was
"not being able to share memories together."
Lydia asked Mrs.
Reagan if Reagan knew her. "And she said, no. And there was a lot in that
'no.'"
I've attached at the end of this edition
the transcript of Heston's videotape. It was not until I re-read it this
morning that I remembered how powerfully his words had affected me.
As a husband and a
father, I identify most closely with these closing thoughts:
"Above all, I'm proud
of my family ... my wife Lydia, the queen of my heart, my children, Fraser
and Holly, and my beloved grandchildren, Jack, Ridley and Charlie. They're
my biggest fans, my toughest critics and my proudest achievement. Through
them, I can touch immortality.
"Finally, I'm
confident about the future of America. I believe in you. I know that the
future of our country, our culture and our children is in good hands. I know
you will continue to meet adversity with strength and resilience, as our
ancestors did, and come through with flying colors -- the ones on Old
Glory."
Charlton Heston's August 9, 2002
statement:
My Dear Friends, Colleagues and Fans:
"My physicians have
recently told me I may have a neurological disorder whose symptoms are
consistent with Alzheimer's disease. So... I wanted to prepare a few words
for you now, because when the time comes, I may not be able to.
"I've lived my
whole life on the stage and screen before you. I've found purpose and
meaning in your response. For an actor there's no greater loss than the loss
of his audience. I can part the Red Sea, but I can't part with you, which is
why I won't exclude you from this stage in my life.
"For now, I'm not
changing anything. I'll insist on work when I can; the doctors will insist
on rest when I must. If you see a little less spring in my step, if your
name fails to leap to my lips, you'll know why. And if I tell you a funny
story for the second time, please laugh anyway.
"I'm neither giving
up nor giving in. I believe I'm still the fighter that Dr. King and JFK and
Ronald Reagan knew, but it's a fight I must someday call a draw. I must
reconcile courage and surrender in equal measure. Please feel no sympathy
for me. I don't. I just may be a little less accessible to you, despite my
wishes.
"I also want you to
know that I'm grateful beyond measure. My life has been blessed with good
fortune. I'm grateful that I was born in America, that cradle of freedom and
opportunity, where a kid from the Michigan Northwoods can work hard and make
something of his life. I'm grateful for the gift of the greatest words ever
written, that let me share with you the infinite scope of the human
experience. As an actor, I'm thankful that I've lived not one life, but
many.
"Above all, I'm
proud of my family ... my wife Lydia, the queen of my heart, my children,
Fraser and Holly, and my beloved grandchildren, Jack, Ridley and Charlie.
They're my biggest fans, my toughest critics and my proudest achievement.
Through them, I can touch immortality.
"Finally, I'm
confident about the future of America. I believe in you. I know that the
future of our country, our culture and our children is in good hands. I know
you will continue to meet adversity with strength and resilience, as our
ancestors did, and come through with flying colors -- the ones on Old Glory.
"William
Shakespeare, at the end of his career, wrote his farewell through the words
of Prospero, in 'The Tempest.' It ends like this:
Be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are
ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you,
were all spirits and
Are melted into
air, into thin air:
And, like the
baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd
towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples,
the great globe itself,
Yea all which it
inherit, shall dissolve
And, like this
insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack
behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made
on, and our little life
Is rounded with a
sleep.
"Thank you, and God
bless you."
Part Two |
