Reasonable facsimile.

Author and comic Carl Hernz battles with Parkinson’s disease with the only weapon he has–humor. He invites you down the path with him as he tries to figure out everything from symptoms to medications to just living life.

I Has the Parkinson’s, a memoir based on Carl’s comedy, life, and previous blog material of the same name, will be published and available at your favorite book outlet in January 2010.

PHOTO: Carl Hernz by Wes Walkey, with special thanks to Judy and Anna-Belles.

Official Biography (by popular demand, and for those who are too cheap to buy the book to read about it)

Carl Hernz was born Carlos Hernandez on December 16, 1966 in Corpus Christi, Texas. After a brief stay in New England, his family returned to Texas where Carl grew up mostly under the influence of his grandmother, grandfather, aunts, uncles and Benadryl® (due to an allergy to mosquito bites). It was shortly after relocating that he and his family would barely escape the devastating effects of Hurricane Celia’s rage upon Corpus Christi in August of 1970, an event that Carl claims would be “responsible for turning me into a geek.”

Already reading and writing by age 4, and with a gift for artistry obviously inherited from his graphic designer father, Carl began making his own series of illustrated story books for his family even before his first day of kindergarten (though he’s yet to see any money from them). “And though I wanted to be a weatherman ever since the hurricane, I found out that people liked my stories about how I survived the storm better than my forecasts of the weather, which are still 45% as reliable as the weather bureau’s 56% reliability of being 32% reliable 20% of the time.”

Upon growing up, Carl became a graphic designer with a knack for writing copy for ads and commercials (it was at this time that his father, to avoid confusion between them since they were in the same business, suggested that he chop his name down to “Carl Hernz” for his professional work). Using humor as the mainstay in his ads, Carl tried his hand for a brief time doing standup comedy. But almost as suddenly as he began to find success in his work did Carl encounter a life-destroying force that would not be fully understood for almost 20 years.

Beginning with a literal tapping away of his physical energy, Carl struggled for the next couple of decades with all sorts of physical problems that progressively made it impossible for him to continue to work and even live as independently as he once did. After much confusion from family, friends, and eventually 13 physicians who all claimed things from “it’s all in your head” to “you’re just a lazy bum” to “you’re a liar,” Carl, after realizing the problem was neurological in nature and finding a patient medical team to work with him, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 40.

Now with proper treatment (and even though it is still far from perfect), Carl enjoys a quality of life that allows him to return to his first love of writing. Recently retired from the world of advertising (and a brief stint in Information Technology—but very much still a geek), Carl now shares via his gift of storytelling how he is currently dealing with the toughest storm he’s ever had to weather.

Adds Carl: “The reward comes from hearing from someone else with Parkinson’s disease who, after reading something I wrote, thanks me for allowing them to laugh at the disease. For many of us with PD it’s usually all tragedy once we get the diagnosis. Yet for whatever reason that I still see life in this manner, I’m more than happy to share my humorous twist on life, still with much to laugh about even with Parkinson’s. The way I see it, why should I get to have all the fun?”

Currently residing in Pensacola, Florida, and after much work to stop the efforts of a “rogue Carl Hernz” who had been posting on several Q & A boards using “my old photos from my modeling days (long story) as avatars,” Carl retired from this blog on Febrary 8, 2010 due to demands on his health (from what?). But he continues to show up here and there as a shape shifter, taking the form of a Bad Kitty, engaging in shenanigans-and-goings-on as often as he can.

I HAS THE PARKINSON’S © 2010  by Carl Hernz. All rights reserved.