Former sportswriter keeps trademark wit, positivity while battling Alzheimer's

Woody Anderson has always been a storyteller.

"I've written 6,700 stories," said Anderson, who worked for the Hartford Courant for four decades, covering sports at all levels from high school to the pros.

"We looked at steroid use back then, it was big," Anderson said. "We talked to high school, college kids and we were nominated for a Pulitzer for that."

In retirement, some of those stories and memories became harder to recall.

"We were talking someday about something, back and forth, OK fine," Anderson said. "Couple days later, I bring up a topic and [my wife Sharon] says we just talked about that."

Woody was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease about six years ago.

"My attitude — it's not woe is me," Anderson said. "I've never — not one instance felt that."

Anderson is tough. He beat prostate cancer earlier in life and now he's motivated to not let this diagnosis affect his life.

"I read, I do these video games and the big thing is I want to make sure I laugh a lot," Anderson said.

He's a regular at the Southington YMCA for a 5 a.m. workout, always ready with a one-liner for his friends.

"When I leave there at 5:45, I'm smiling because they're laughing and it's a hell of a start to the day," Anderson said.

Woody is one of 80,000 people in Connecticut living with Alzheimer's.

"We anticipate with baby boomers aging that the number is just going to grow because we know age is the number one risk factor," Carolyn DeRocco with the Alzheimer's Association Connecticut Chapter said.

The Alzheimer's Association is working towards a cure. Anderson is taking LEQEMBI, the first FDA approved medication aimed at reducing cognitive decline.

"He's been on it for 18 months and quite honestly, I haven't seen any deterioration in that 18 months," Woody's wife Sharon Finn sasid.

"There's people working on this," Anderson said.

Most importantly, he's not going at this alone.

"There's four grandkids here every Sunday, so it's like an extended family and they keep it going and they're good and we go to their games," Anderson said.

Of course, there's also sports to keep Woody sharp.

"[Dan Hurley's] players feed off his energy, just like Calhoun did," Anderson said.

Not to mention, Woody's trademark sense of humor.

"I used to watch the New York Giants when they had a football team," Anderson joked. "Do they still have a football team?"

Visit alz.org/CT for more information and resources about Alzheimer's disease.