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Column: I bid Tampa Bay a fond farewell, but journalism remains in my blood

 
Published Sept. 22, 2017

I came to Tampa 19 years ago to help arrange the shotgun marriage of the Tampa Tribune, WFLA-TV and TBO.com in the News Center.

I leave to fight back better against my Parkinson's disease.

However strong my defenses, this unpredictable neurological disease will inevitably progress. The question is how best to slow and bend its trajectory in the desired direction.

My wife, Struby, and I have purchased a home in Carlyle Place, a lovely and lively seniors' community in Macon, Ga. What's not to like about a place with great exercise facilities and a "Tavern"?

It's near stately Wesleyan College and not far from dynamic Mercer University. Higher education is in my blood, first as a student then as a journalism professor after retiring from the Trib in 2006.

My Parkinson's diagnosis came in 2014, although I now trace symptoms back to 2006. The disease is often silent until up to 80 percent of the dopamine-producing neurons in the brain are killed. Dopamine is the chemical WD-40 that permits neurons throughout the body to communicate.

PD is an ultimately unknowable condition of unclear origin or origins. Each case is unique to the person. Even the numbers are approximations. One and one-half million cases in the U.S. Seven million worldwide. Fifty to sixty thousand new cases a year in the U.S. Second most common neurological disorder after Alzheimer's.

PD is not a death sentence. It is possible to "live well" with it, as the Davis Phinney Foundation says. I am doing so now.

People With Parkinson's are embracing improved exercise habits, diet, mental tools and social networks to punch back at this cruel disease. An increasing number of studies document their improved health and well-being.

"When people describe Parkinson's disease, they often define it as a disease that is incurable and without treatment to slow its progression," says Dr. Peter Schmidt, chief research and clinical officer of the Parkinson's Foundation. "You can change how Parkinson's affects you, but it takes hard work and dedication."

The key is taking charge of the disease, Schmidt says, by aggressively seeking the most expert care available and engaging your brain through rigorous exercise and mental conditioning.

Dementia, however, remains a strong possibility at the end of the PD road. If that's my fate, Struby has helping family in Macon and my brother and his family are 80 miles up the road in Atlanta.

The "convergence" of print, broadcast and online news that brought me to Tampa in 1998 was sometimes bumpy and always controversial. That combination is now common in major news organizations, including the Times.

The Tribune was plain spoken and blue collar. (That's you, Steve Otto.)

Dan Ruth and Martin Fennelly, both now of the Times, led our fine writers. Managing Editor Donna Reed, later news vice president for our parent company, Media General, embodied an effective, no-frills leadership approach.

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As president and publisher, I had an extraordinary team. Bruce Faulmann, my ad chief, is vice president of advertising and marketing for the Times. Bill Barker, my successor as publisher, is a Regional President for Gannett, the country's largest news organization

I joined USF's journalism faculty after the Tribune. I am proudest of the 300-plus students who listened to my warning — starting in 2007 — that fact-based reporting was falling prey to a Fantasy Land of partial truths, rumors, infotainment, propaganda and conspiracies.

I was right then. And now. (Hats off to PolitiFact.)

I have had real fun teaching, a personal joy in my 55 years as a news guy. I'll seek a way to do it in Macon. (You listening, Mercer University?)

Struby and I leave Tampa with wonderful memories of raising our two sons in Tampa Palms, Rotary service and involvement with Hyde Park United Methodist Church.

Farewell, Tampa Bay, a region on the move. We plan to visit often to continue our patient advocacy work for the Davis Phinney Foundation in Florida and Georgia.

Gil Thelen, retired president and publisher of the Tampa Tribune, was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2014. He is a patient advocate (Ambassador) for the Davis Phinney Foundation. His blog is www.shufflingeditor.com. His email is gthelen1@icloud.com. His and his wife's book, "Counter Punch: Sparring With Parkinson's," is forthcoming from Amazon.