Charlton Heston (1924-2008) was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, August 2002
He begins his address to his public:
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.
He concludes his address with:
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.