Posted on 01/26/2005 3:06:33 PM PST by Rennes Templar
There are two kinds of conversations about Johnny Carson. One kind is the one most of you are having. It is light and interesting, about showbiz, TV, popular culture. Then there is the other conversation many of us have been avoiding.
-snip-
A part of it (the conversation)landed on my desk with a little thump. It was a package, about the size of your palm, with a brown camel on it, two pyramids and three palm trees.
"You can have them," said a friend who tossed them, casual in voice, though there was no missing the symbolism of it, his casting away of the Camels.
"I'm done with them," he said. "I quit."
-snip-
Carson's death could have been due to pneumonia, to infection, or it could have been respiratory failure. Either way it was private, and ugly.
I thought of him suffering amidst tubes.
"You can quit," Dr. Gross said. "You can have a life. You can quit."
I've failed before. And I'm afraid of failing. But Johnny Carson convinced me.
If you're interested in doing the same, you can call the American Lung Association at 312-243-2000.
jskass@tribune.com
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
I recommend nicotine gum.
I am a smoking Freeper. My mom is presently in a fetal position suffering from Alzheimer's, and has a shunt to drain fluid from her brain. She never smoked.
I read that smoking seems to reduce the risk of Alzheimer', which is in part why I have not tried harder to quit.
Which way would be better to go? Emphysema or Alzheimer's? We think we can control our destiny by choices made, but I am not sure that we have all that much influence, really.
On the other hand, one of my granddads never smoked in his life, and died of lung cancer. George Burns smoked, and lived to be almost 100.
I never smoked thanks in a great measure to listening to my Dad cough up his lungs in the bathroom each and every morning.
I suspect the problem is not really the nicotine, but instead the hundreds of toxic gasses and combustion products that come along for the ride.
As a former smoker, this is just my well thought out opinion.
Smoking is bad for you but living until 80 is nothing to shake a stick at.
It seems logical to me, you never know what is the spark to cause someone to change a habit. It could be a little kid telling his mother "Look at that fat guy" and you overhear it. It could be a near-miss while driving drunk. It could be Johnny Carson dying of emphysema.
Don't start.
On the other hand, Carson was 79 years old. I'm not sure he's the best poster boy for the dangers of smoking.
I had an uncle that died at 75 years from (some three letter acronym – he had circulatory/respiratory problems + emphysema). Smoked since he was 15 or so.
Two other smoking family members died of lung cancer in their 60’s.
But then, my dad died at 57 from ALS. Another uncle died at 59 from lung cancer and never smoked a day in his life. A cousin died at 27 from 12 gauge blast after an altercation in a bar.
Then, had a great-uncle that died at 97 years of age – having smoked all his life (and was legally drunk as a skunk at the time of his death at 10:00 in the morning) – while walking to the post office. The drunk kid that hit him (25 years old) and killed him with his car was just as drunk as he was.
Whatever. Do what you want. Just remember that nobody (NOBODY!) gets out alive. Enjoy.
True - He died at 79 -lived a good life, enjoyed retirement- beat the average - so why is it a "grim awakening"?
Still JUST A BIT CRANKY.......*grin
If I never touch tobacco again I will not have been cheated out of my fair share of it.
Yep, lost an aunt to her lifetime of smoking (lung cancer) at the age of 64. She told everyone to tell every smoker they know: "Don't smoke." Sadly, when she was young and slightly overweight, it was her doctor who suggested she take up smoking to lose the weight.
Quitting didn't hurt as badly as I thought it would. But it hurt for much longer than I expected. It's been nearly ten years now, and I'll go to my grave missing it...whatever age I get there.
That's what I did...I gave my pack to a friend and said, "Don't ever give me a cigarette, no matter what I might say." She never did, and I never smoked again. That was 30 years ago. I got tired of feeling like I was powerless over the craving.
My husband has lost both his parents and his brother to illnesses associated with their smoking. His brother was not quite 50.
I think not smoking improves chances for quality of life. I don't know how long Carson suffered, but I remember my aunt on oxygen and struggling for breath for years.
For goodness sakes, Carson was almost 80 years old.
That is 4 years older than the life expectancy for males in the US.
We should all be so lucky to live that long.
I was wondering when somebody would try to use Johnny Carson as the poster boy for the anti-smoking groups. The guy was 79 years old. He died because he got old and sick. It happens.
There is a guy who works at the place I buy gas, and he quit about 10 years ago because of throat cancer.
He says that to this day, if he allowed himself, he could smoke a cigarette 100 yards long, and then lick up the ashes.
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