His ability to speak is gone now.

Instead, Jeff Julian uses the hunt-and-peck method to type his words into a keyboard, which relays them with a Darth Vader-like voice from a device called a Gus Communicator.

"A month ago he reached a point where he could no longer talk to people and really stopped trying," his wife, Kimberly, said. "But that doesn't mean he has given up by any means."

"Giving up" are two words Julian has never typed on his keyboard. "Courage" would be far more appropriate for the PGA Tour golfer who continues to play the game and live life to the fullest despite the ravages of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which afflicted him just one year after he achieved his lifelong goal of earning a tour card.

Commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS is a neurodegenerative disease that attacks nerve cells and pathways in the brain and spinal cord. When the cells die, muscle control and movement dies with them. There is no cure. Most victims die within two to five years.

Julian, 40, was diagnosed 13 months ago.

Along with losing use of the muscles that allow him to speak, his right arm is starting to weaken to the point where he sometimes has trouble turning the ignition key in his car. His chin quivers frequently.

"It is stripping him of so much of what has always been his purpose," Kimberly said, "but at the same time it is giving him purpose to set an example."

That was something Julian recognized almost immediately after a doctor informed him on Oct. 8, 2001, that he was facing a death sentence.

"We saw that opportunity right away," he says through the voice synthesizer, "and we felt that creating awareness should be our main goal."

Julian helped spread that awareness last week in the Curt Schilling Fore ALS golf tournament at Eagle Mountain. After a short-game clinic ("All of my game is short now," he joked), he played in the event that raised $90,000 for the ALS Arizona Chapter.

"As a human being, he's one of those people you feel honored to be in the presence of," Schilling said. "He's still living life as normally as he can live it, and like a lot of people you meet who have ALS, they tend to be happier and enjoying life more than others who don't have an affliction.

"They realize what they are faced with every morning when they wake up. It's a pretty amazing thing to see."

Julian amazed his fellow tour pros this year when he played in seven events, all through exemptions. The highlight was being paired with Jack Nicklaus in the Memorial.

He missed the cut in all seven but says he never had a bad day on the golf course.

When the season ended, he continued to follow his dream, going to Qualifying School, but he withdrew after two rounds of the second stage and headed home to Branson, Mo.

"He has been an inspiration," fellow tour pro Tim Herron said. "There were times this year when some of us just waited around (after playing) to watch him come in. It has been great seeing someone who has a disease like that continue to live his dream and live his life.

"(ALS) isn't something you want to even think about, but it is reality to Jeff. I don't have any idea what it would be like."

Dreams

Julian never has been one to give up easily. He grew up hitting golf balls on the family farm in Vermont, practicing in the snow, and he later tended bar to make ends meet.

He failed to make the lineup as a walk-on at Clemson but returned home after college and took a job as an assistant club pro and played the minitours.

Everything fell into place when he earned his PGA Tour card in 2000, a few months after meeting the love of his life. Within two months, he and Kimberly were engaged, and they married on Feb. 15, 2001.

"They are like two peas in a pod, and they are so much in love," said Greg Michalowski, a Valley resident and Julian's college roommate. "They've only been married two years, but it seems so much longer."

Kimberly, who caddied for Julian part of last year, noticed that he couldn't get rid of a nagging cough, saliva was settling in the corners of his mouth and he began to slur his words.

Fatigue became a factor as Julian started strong in tournaments but struggled on the weekends. His arms began to feel heavy, and his swing became inconsistent. He finished 211th on the money list, and the tour card he worked so hard to earn was gone.

The couple saw several doctors, and a visit to Johns Hopkins Hospital confirmed the diagnosis.

"Awareness and creating hope for people has become so important to us because most of the doctors sure don't do that," Kimberly said. "They just say there's not a lot of hope, and maybe that's understandable after diagnosing so many patients and watching them die.

"They've seen this for so long and are so stumped by it. After awhile it's just like, 'This is what it is. Go home and get your will ready.' I don't think that's what people need to hear. They need to hear something more positive about having two to five more years to live and making the most of it."

Julian is trying to do that.

Perspective

"It is hard to lose the best parts of my game, but I am OK with it," he said. "I see it differently now. Other things are more important."

Julian has undergone chelation therapy to reduce the high levels of mercury in his system. He takes as many as 40 pills a day and has an intravenous port to receive high doses of vitamin C.

The Julians decided to use natural products for treatment instead of Rilutek, a drug that treats ALS symptoms but can cost as much as $1,000 a month.

They no longer can do the hiking and in-line skating they once enjoyed so much, but the lack of communication has become the hardest adjustment. They have devised their own modified sign language, and the voice synthesizer has helped.

"Something like this will challenge you in every way, because we've always had such great communication as a couple," Kimberly said.

"It has taught us so much. It has taught me patience because I have always been so impatient about why people weren't able to do certain things. "

ALS hasn't robbed Julian of his sense of humor.

During his short-game clinic, he advises his audience that, "I have lost strength and flexibility, but that's something we all have to deal with as we approach the senior tour and the super senior tour."

His outlook doesn't surprise Michalowski, who became involved in ALS charity work after hearing about his good friend's disease.

"He's just so positive about life," Michalowski said. "Life is a blessing to Jeff, not something that has dealt him a bad hand."