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WTVT Morning Anchor Says He Plans To Keep Working, Fight Back, Stay Positive

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By WALT BELCHER The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 7, 2008

Tom Curran is astonished at the response.

The morning anchor at WTVT, Channel 13, had been reading his e-mails.

"I went through 18 in a row, one after another, from people who were praying for me, wishing me well, offering sympathy," he says. "You forget that you come into people's homes and become a part of their lives. They feel like they know you, even though you don't know them."

It has been a month since Curran posted a note on his blog on

myfoxtampabay.com telling viewers that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, a progressive nervous disorder that causes tremors and muscle weakness.

He says he was diagnosed two years ago. His family, friends, fellow church members, co-workers and station management have known and have been supportive.

Although there has been no dramatic change in his on-air presentation on "Good Day Tampa Bay," some viewers were beginning to recognize the symptoms.

"My tremors are in my hands and forearms," he says. "I have had a twitch in my leg once or twice, but it went away."

He says medication helps.

Viewers familiar with the disease had telephoned and e-mailed questions. Others had met him in person and seen a shake in his hands.

He says he went public because he wanted viewers to know that he is getting treatment and he's ready for a long fight.

"It's a progressive disease, and the symptoms vary greatly," he says.

He also wanted to let people know that WTVT supports him, and he plans to work as long as he can.

Curran, 54, has been on the morning shift at WTVT for 14 years. A native of Canada, he moved to Tampa in 1994 from California.

He says he has enjoyed good health all of his life. The first signs of Parkinson's came one morning when he and his wife, Christina, were driving somewhere and he noticed the index finger on his left hand was twitching.

"It was skipping and jumping around without my control," he says.

It took a while for doctors to make an accurate diagnosis. He says he is considering getting involved with The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

He wants to maintain a positive attitude.

"What can you do, sit around and be depressed?" he says. "I plan to live life as fully as I can. I want to keep working as long as I can do the job."

"JUNGLE" BEAT: Another midseason holdover debuts at 10 tonight when NBC tries out "Lipstick Jungle," a sexy drama about three thin, attractive, upscale New York career women.

It's from "Sex and the City" creator Candace Bushnell, so let the comparisons begin. Fans of "ER" need not worry. That show will return one day when the writers strike ends and production resumes.

"Lipstick Jungle" is not as good as "Sex and the City." Brooke Shields co-stars as a film studio executive who is juggling home, hubby, work and children. Her husband gets stuck too often with household duties.

Kim Raver, of "24" fame, is a high-rolling magazine editor who starts cheating on her boring husband by having wild uninhibited sex with a younger man.

Lindsay Price is a single and frustrated fashion designer who is being pursued by a creepy billionaire (Andrew McCarthy).

With an impending recession, spiraling gasoline prices and the busted real estate market in the real world, who really cares about the problems of three rich women who have it all and still aren't satisfied?

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