By Peggy O'Farrell
Enquirer staff writer

Actor David L. Lander - you might remember him as Squiggy on TV's Laverne and Shirley series - will talk about his experiences living with multiple sclerosis in a free presentation Friday.

His program starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Marriott RiverCenter in Covington. Dr. Michael Schmerler, a neurologist with RiverHills Healthcare, and former Bengal David Fulcher will also speak. To pre-register, call (866) 955-9999.

Lander, now 57, was diagnosed with MS in 1984, but did not publicly reveal he had it until 1999. He lives in California's San Fernando Valley and is a scout for the Seattle Mariners baseball team.

He talked to the Enquirer about living with the disease.

Question: What's the biggest misconception people have about MS?

Answer: That it's muscular dystrophy. When I went public after 15 years of keeping it a secret, the first comment I got was, "Does this make you one of Jerry's kids?" And people don't really know the difference until they get it, or one of their friends does or their wife or their kid.

Q: Why do people keep quiet when they learn they have MS?

A: The ones that hold back, like I did, it's because they don't really know anything about it, and what they do know is pretty bad. And it is pretty bad. And I think that's pretty much the same way a prospective employer thinks about it.

About 40 percent of people with MS don't tell anyone they have it. They have 9 to 5 jobs or they're blue collar or they're office workers. The overriding reason they don't say anything is, "I didn't think they'd understand, and I decided not to give them a reason to misunderstand."

Q: How are you feeling these days?

A: I'm feeling really good. I haven't had a real exacerbation, or flare-up, in about three years. Every so often I find that if I don't know the area that I'm walking in, then my walking will get very wobbly all of a sudden. It's like my legs have no confidence in my brain, and it shows. I exercise and I use Avonex (a form of interferon that appears to prevent MS from attacking the body's healthy tissues). I'm getting good results with it. It's basically stable. It's not a cure, but when I think of all the years when there wasn't even a treatment, this is light years ahead of that. This is great.

Q: What's the focus of your talk?

A: It always focuses on me, but the truth of the matter is it focuses on me because I have MS, and that's the great equalizer, because the audience has MS. You do go through very universal experiences.

Q: What's your advice for other people with MS?

A: Trust in yourself, but remember yourself doesn't always know what it's talking about.

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E-mail pofarrell@enquirer.com