ARTICLE: Booth Gardner Is Too Busy To Be Too Ill

[Murray Charters <mcharters@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Sunday, June 22, 2003 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
Nicole Brodeur / Times staff columnist

Gardner is too busy to be too ill

Start a sentence with Booth Gardner's name, and people cut you off with a tone 
of concern and curiosity. They know, but
they really want to know:

"How is he?"

The former governor has Parkinson's disease, yes. The symptoms were there in 
his last year in Olympia, but he ignored
them, let himself "red line," let his marriage fall apart.

Gardner has got it under control now, he told me. He shuffles, loses his 
balance and tends to crash late in the day.

But on this, Gardner, 66, is quick and steady: "Parkinson's is what I have, not 
what I am."

That was clear the other night, when Gardner was lauded at a fund-raiser for 
the Rainier Institute, a nonpartisan,
public-policy think tank of which he is president emeritus.

The event drew fellow former governors Dan Evans and Mike Lowry, along with 
Gardner supporters from way back.

The evening had a funereal tone at times, especially when people spoke of 
Gardner's illness or lingered too long on the
time, between 1985 and 1993, when his was a voice to be reckoned with.

Gardner made it clear that while Parkinson's may have taken the thunder out of 
his tone, he still has a lot to say. And
much to do.

For starters, he is the state chairman for Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's 
presidential campaign.

"I think governors make good presidents," Gardner said. "They have the 
experience of having to run something and they
know the value of good people.  "Howard is a wonderful guy," he continued. 
"Very smart and motivated. If he can come in
second in Iowa and New Hampshire, he's a player."

Gardner thinks Washington state needs leaders "willing to put their necks on 
the block." The tax, education and health-
care systems all need revisiting, he said.

"But whoever does this has to be a progressive about it," he said. "Be vocal 
and willing to take shots."

This past legislative session saw Gardner pushing for funding for higher 
education. With his friend Evans, he wrote a
bill seeking $1.7 billion over 10 years for new buildings and operating funds.

"They gave us $1 billion over six years," Gardner said. "If you pro-rate it, 
it's the same thing.  "And it didn't hurt
that Evans and I were pushing it," he added. "That made it compelling in its 
own way.   "But public policy is where I
hang out."

There, and on Vashon Island, where he just moved with his second wife, Cynthia. 
He has eight grandchildren and
struggles to keep up with their birthdays and all things Harry Potter.

He "plays at" golf and has a 30 handicap, trolls book and estate sales for 
Louis L'Amour novels and is entrenched in
Thoreau.

"I think people felt that I did a good job as a governor, and I came out with 
my credibility intact."

So when Gardner's name comes up, don't think Parkinson's, he said. Think of 
what he has done, and what is to come.

Nicole Brodeur's column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.
Reach her at 206-464-2334 or at nbrodeur@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

SOURCE: The Seattle Times


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