Page 4 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - March 1, 2023

4 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK MARCH 1, 2023
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lowing an illustrious five-de- cades-long newsprint career, believes he was born to write. As a young boy growing up in Salem, Oregon, he was an avid reader, who by the fourth grade was already scanning the daily Statesman as part of his morning routine.
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Chapman enjoys visits from his sai canine friend, Jagger. 30 the
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enerable journalist Don Chapman, who recently retired fol-
lowed him to “hide it from the world.” But he was well aware of the symptoms — “the shakes, you can hear my voice isn’t the old voice, and an awkward walk.”
my high school senior year I was voted co-best boy danc- er. So, I was pretty decent at controlling my body’s move- ments. Parkinson’s steals that ability, and that’s the frustra- tion.”
by that pep talk, gifted him a wooden sign quoting his words of encouragement.
the San Francisco 49ers and Giants, on TV.
Fast forward to today, and the award-winning writer, who turned 74 earlier this week, has a new story to tell — living with Parkinson’s Disease.
light weights.
“The hardest thing about
You can also bet that the die-hard University of Or- egon fan is enjoying his well-deserved retirement by watching the Ducks, along with his other favorite teams,
Chapman was a longtime columnist for The Honolulu Advertiser, editor of Mid- Week, and most recently edi- tor of Building Management Hawai‘i magazine.
From associate editor of his high school and college papers — The Piper at Mc- Nary High in Salem and The Cavalier at Concordia Col- lege in Portland — to sports editor for the Daily Emerald student newspaper at Univer- sity of Oregon, assignments for UPI and Springfield News, and then jobs at East-Orego-
He received the diagnosis just prior to the pandemic, which unintentionally al-
this is I used to be an actu- al athlete. I played college baseball for two years, and in
“This is the only thing I’ve been good at my whole life,” says Chapman. “I tried all kinds of other jobs and pro-
SEE PAGE 5
Despite the challenges, Chapman remains optimistic. “There is evidence that physical activity is the best thing you can do to fight Par- kinson’s,” he says. “I started shadow boxing. I also juggle a bean bag and bounce a ten- nis ball. I’ ve got a stationary bike that I do, a couple of
A naturally easy-going per- son, Chapman also practices positive thinking — some- thing he’s done all his life. He recalls his days coaching a T-ball team in Kāhala in 1982, and as the players came in to bat in the last inning of one of their games, he told them, “OK, guys, let’s go. We’re only down by 12!” At the end of the season, the par- ents, who were quite amused
“I still have the sign, and that philosophy continues to guide my outlook on life,” shares Chapman. “It’s also one of the things I got from the Dalai Lama (who he in- terviewed for a MidWeek cover story in 2012) — that we’ re all responsible for our own happiness.”
As for writing, he says he’s written everything that he needs to pen, including his life story for his two grown children — son Kai and daughter Dawn Luat.
fessions and either I didn’t like it or they didn’t like me. Journalism, however, I’ ve never had a bad job. I’m not certain there’s such a thing.”
Cover Story
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STORY BY
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PHOTOS BY
ANTHONY CONSILLIO
He may be retired, but former newspaper editor and columnist Don Chapman has a new story to tell about his determined battle with Parkinson’s Disease.