By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
Ron Bankett said he tries to find a positive in anything that life hands him, a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease, included.
Bankett has always enjoyed playing golf, and wasn’t about to let Parkinson’s put a halt to that endeavor.
“It’s frustrating in that I can’t hit the ball as far as I used to,” he said. “But it forced me to stay more focused on keeping the ball in the fairway.”
The diagnosis of Parkinson’s also motivated Bankett, 68, to return to one of his earlier loves ó painting. The motivation was prompted by Burton Scott, a doctor who treated Bankett at Duke University Medical Center.
Following the diagnosis of Parkinson’s, Scott suggested that Bankett give painting another shot.
Bankett did so by completing a picturesque beach scene, complete with an Adirondack chair surrounded by sand dunes. Lying open in the chair is a book, “Lucky Man,” written by Michael J. Fox. It details the actor’s battle with Parkinson’s.
Bankett named his painting, “A Day at the Beach.”
The painting was auctioned two weeks ago for $1,000 as part of the annual OBX Cruz For the Cure at Ocean Isle. The event is a silent auction with proceeds going to Duke University’s Parkinson’s disease research. More than $9,000 was raised through the auction for the battle against Parkinson’s.
Rich Broughton heads the OBX Cruz for the Cure, an event sponsored by the BMW Car Club of America. Like Bankett, Broughton suffers with Parkinson’s disease.
The two met a year ago during a Parkinson’s disease symposium at Duke University Medical Center. Broughton said the sale of Bankett’s painting was one of the highlights of this year’s auction.
“I felt quite fortunate we raised as much as we did considering the state of the economy,” he said.
Broughton said that when he and Bankett first spoke, Bankett told him he’d like to sell his “A Day at the Beach” painting with proceeds going toward the work to find a cure for Parkinson’s.
“I felt honored he was willing to contribute it to the auction,” Broughton said. “It’s a beautiful painting.”
Beginning Friday, Rowan County residents interested in purchasing cards of Bankett’s artwork can do so in downtown Salisbury. Cards of Bankett’s “A Day at the Beach” will be sold at the Stitchin’ Post on South Main Street just off the Square.
The cards are $20 for a box of six, and include envelopes. Proceeds go to Duke University’s Parkinson’s disease research.
Bankett will be at the Stitchin’ Post Friday night to help with the selling of the cards and to sign autographs. The event is part of downtown Salisbury’s Spring Night Out celebration. Bankett said he expects to be at the Stitchin’ Post beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.
Payment for the cards must be made by check, with the checks made to Duke University for Parkinson’s Disease Research. The cards measure 3 inches by 5 inches, making them suitable for framing.
Bankett said the Stitchin’ Post will continue to sell the cards even after Friday night’s festivities.
Bankett, who lives with his wife, Gail, on High Rock Lake, said he has completed about 12 paintings in his lifetime, though none within recent years. Despite having not picked up a paintbrush recently, Bankett said he never quite got past his desire to paint.
“It’s a part of you that’s hard to release,” he said.
Then Bankett paused before laughing and continuing, “I had a little more trouble releasing this one than the others.”
Bankett got his start in painting in the early ’60s while working with a documentary film company in Chadds Ford, Pa. At the time, Bankett became friends with John W. McCoy, an acclaimed nationally-known artist and art judge.
He introduced Bankett to the art medium of egg tempera on gessoed board. This pre-13th century art medium is best known by the works of McCoy as well as his brothers-in-law, Peter Hurd and Andrew Wyeth.
Bankett received continued inspiration and critiques from Dr. Walter Hood, head of Catawba College’s art department, and in 1976 exhibited his works at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art Invitational in Winston-Salem.
Bankett noted that in the early days of his art endeavors, he displayed at shows alongside numerous other North Carolina artists, Lexington’s Bob Timberlake, included.
“Of course,” Bankett said, chuckling, “Timberlake came out ahead.”
Bankett has also been involved in theater on numerous occasions, assisting at the prestigious Flat Rock Playhouse in Flat Rock, N.C., and studying at the Circle on the Square Theater in New York City. He portrayed Lord Cornwallis in Charlotte’s bicentennial outdoor drama, “The Hornet’s Nest.”
Bankett and his wife have a daughter, Danette Barfield. She and her husband, James, have a daughter, Heather, a student at North Rowan High School.
Through most of the ’80s and ’90s, Bankett stayed busy with his family. He worked eight years for IBM Corp. and eventually retired from the city of Lexington’s gas and electric department where he worked as a technical writer.
“I long awaited retirement when I could return to my work,” Bankett said.
He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in October 2001, a tremor in his left hand his first sign of the illness. “I noticed I couldn’t hold the handle on a gas pump,” Bankett said.
But he’s adjusted well to the disease ó both on the golf course and elsewhere.
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The airing of Michael J. Fox’s “Adventures of an Incurable Optimist” is scheduled for 10 tonight on ABC (channel 9, locally).