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Aug 3, 2022 · Laura Turner Seydel speaks about her father, Ted Turner, and Lewy Body Dementia. What an honor to participate in the Life Itself Conference led by Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Marc Hodosh in partnership with CNN that aims to inspire and foster changes in healthcare. As my family navigates my dad – (Ted Turner‘s) courageous battle with Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), we rely on cutting edge information ...
Jul 25, 2022 · Laura Turner Seydel speaks about her father, Ted Turner, and Lewy Body Dementia. For more Life Itself talks and related articles visit here. 03:58 - Source: CNN. Stories worth watching 16 videos ...
- 4 min
- Matt Zabriskie
- Overview
- Pioneer of 24-hour cable news
- Taking on a personal battle
Ted Turner has never been one to shy away from a challenge. He’s sailed to victory in America’s Cup races, assembled World Series-winning baseball teams, transformed a modest billboard business into a global media empire, and called attention to environmental crises around the world.
Now Turner faces a new challenge, this one perhaps the most formidable and personal of all: dementia.
In an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, Turner, 79, told Ted Koppel he has been diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.
“It’s a mild case of what people have as Alzheimer’s,” Turner said, speaking to Koppel on his Montana ranch. “It’s similar to that. But not nearly as bad. Alzheimer’s is fatal.”
"Thank goodness I don't have that," he said, adding that at that moment he couldn't remember the name of his condition. "That's dementia. I can't remember what my disease is," he said.
Lewy body dementia is a progressive brain disorder that affects an estimated 1.4 million Americans. Its symptoms resemble Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Turner first made national headlines in 1977, when he captained the yacht Courageous, winning the America’s Cup.
The victory came shortly before Turner launched the Super Station, a first-of-its kind cable television station he created in the 1970s. The television channel, known as WTBS, was an offshoot of the advertising business Turner had inherited from his father, who died of suicide when Turner was 24.
Turner filled its lineup with a combination of television reruns, old movies, and baseball games. Turner owned and loved the Atlanta Braves baseball team and broadcast their games on a near-daily basis.
Seeing the interest that the nightly games generated, Turner began exploring the idea of launching a cable station devoted to sports, 24 hours a day. He was disappointed to learn that Capital Cities was already working on the same idea, in the form of ESPN, which launched in 1979.
That’s when Turner looked for something else that would sustain viewer interest for up to 24 hours a day, eventually deciding on a news station.
On June 1, 1980, he launched the Cable News Network, now known as CNN. Its round-the-clock coverage set the stage for today's 24-hour news cycle.
Turner has repeatedly said he’ll never get over ceding control of his media empire. After a pair of mergers in the latter part of the 1990s, first with Time Warner and then with AOL, Turner was forced out of the company he built.
In his CBS interview on Sunday, Turner continued to express dissatisfaction with what he says CNN has become in the post-Turner era. “I think they’re stickin’ with politics a little too much,” he said. “They’d do better to have a more balanced agenda. But that’s, you know, just one person’s opinion.”
That tracks with his early vision for the channel. “He wasn’t about just putting people on the air so that they could yell at each other,” said Sean Callebs, a long-time correspondent for CNN. “CNN will always make headlines, but Turner was there when CNN made history.”
Those who know Turner and have spent time with him recently say he now has good days and bad days. His irascible spirit, by all accounts, remains intact, as does the admiration from his former colleagues.
What life will be like for him as he faces a disease that threatens to silence him is unknown. But those who worked with him predict he will approach his ailment the way he has approached everything in his colorful career, bravely and on his terms.
“Ted Turner’s a fighter,” said Barbara Pyle, a former vice president of environmental policy for Turner who began working for him 40 years ago. They maintain a close friendship.
- Mary Pflum
- National NBC Field Producer
Oct 3, 2018 · Published: October 3, 2018 6:33am EDT. Ted Turner recently announced that he has Lewy body dementia, a diagnosis that the late comic and actor Robin Williams was given after his death. The disease ...
Photo: CBS. Ted Turner has revealed his Lewy Body dementia diagnosis. The 79-year-old media mogul, who founded CNN in 1980, opened up about his illness for the first time during an interview with ...
Oct 2, 2018 · Lewy Body Dementia, Explained. CNN founder Ted Turner’s recent announcement that he was battling Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) has focused much-needed public interest on a progressive brain disease that too often gets forgotten when compared to the better-known Alzheimer’s. Turner, 79, recently told Ted Koppel on CBS Sunday Morning that he was ...
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Nov 19, 2021 · Today is Ted Turner's 83rd birthday and marks another year full of courage and bravery as he continues the fight against Lewy Body Dementia! We join... Rising Above Lewy, Ted Turner and Susan Schneider Williams | Today is Ted Turner's 83rd birthday and marks another year full of courage and bravery as he continues the fight against Lewy Body ...
- 5 min
- 2.6K
- Lewy Body Dementia Association
