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For some of us, Carson's death a grim awakening
Chicago Tribune ^ | Jan. 26, 2004 | John Kass

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: everyonediessomeday; healthpolice; johnnycarson; pufflist; tobacco
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To: bullseye876
cigarettes may still be obtained at reasonable prices via the internet

The Swiss & Russian "connections" seem to have closed mid-Nov.
I.E. no more shipments thru JFK.
I was paying $13.95/ctn. for Marlboro.
W/ no more cheap cigs avail, I quit cold turkey last Thurs.

41 posted on 01/26/2005 3:28:02 PM PST by TheOracleAtLilac
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To: Diego1618

"...on the spur of he moment..."

I had the flu really bad and was just too sick to smoke. The third day I thought that might be a good time to just quit. I did.


42 posted on 01/26/2005 3:29:20 PM PST by Socratic (Ignorant and free? It's not to be! - T. Jefferson (paraphrase))
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To: Rennes Templar

I never smoked a cigarette in my life. I also mind my own business about others and their smoking habits. Its their life, their decision. I do think all the hoooRah about 2nd hand smoke is Horse crap.


43 posted on 01/26/2005 3:29:36 PM PST by sgtbono2002
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To: Shortwave
There is no safe dose of nicotine.

Nonsense - nicotine is one of our neurotransmitters - we release nicotine-like substances 24/7.

Besides, "safe" is subjective, risk can be calculated.

44 posted on 01/26/2005 3:30:08 PM PST by corkoman (Logged in - have you?)
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To: TheRightGuy
I quit 2 years, 3, months, 1 day, 7 hours and 32 minutes ago.

LOLOL!!!

45 posted on 01/26/2005 3:30:24 PM PST by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)
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To: Diego1618

I quit rather than pay this outrageous tobacco tax. For some reason this seems to outrage some anti-smoking zealots. win-win.


46 posted on 01/26/2005 3:31:12 PM PST by RightWhale (Please correct if cosmic balance requires.)
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To: jacquej
I read that smoking seems to reduce the risk of Alzheimer'...

This strikes me as likely. Lowers the odds of living to be all that old.

I quit at the age of 13 in 1963 and was running 5 mile workouts this year until the winter got rough.

47 posted on 01/26/2005 3:31:13 PM PST by VadeRetro
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To: jacquej
I read that smoking seems to reduce the risk of Alzheimer', which is in part why I have not tried harder to quit.

The data on the ill effects of smoking are well and long established and documented. Probably the only reason Altzheimers is "staved off" is that the respiratory illnesses kill you off first. If there is a link between smoking and holding back Altzheimer's this is the first I have ever heard of it -- it more than likely a theory otherwise they would be doing nicotine therapy or somesuch.

I realize that quitting smoking is a deeply personal and difficult decision that can never be forced on you (my wife didn't realize she was the biggest detriment to my quitting by bringing it up).

But IMHO you should be honest about why you don't quit -- you like it too much.

48 posted on 01/26/2005 3:31:40 PM PST by freedumb2003 (Don't bring a moped to a car fight)
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To: Diego1618
My advice.....if you want to quit, do not set a date. Do it

I tend to agree but every person's psychology is different. I quit 15 years ago after smoking for more than 40 years. I tried every gimmick in the book: Nicorette, hypnosis -- I even paid a guy nearly $300 to put a "sure fire cure" acupuncture pin in my earlobe. The problem with all those approaches was I didn't really want to quit.

One day I decided I sincerely didn't want to smoke any more. I threw my cigarettes away and told myself "You're an ex-smoker." I put smoking out of my mind and haven't lit up since. Occasionally I think of having "just one, for old time's sake" but I know if I did I'd be hooked just as hard as I was before. It wasn't hard to quit once I decided to and I'm happy I did although I sure miss that "smoker's metabolism." I've gained a lot of weight.

49 posted on 01/26/2005 3:32:08 PM PST by Bernard Marx (Don't make the mistake of interpreting my Civility as Servility)
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To: TheRightGuy
I quit 2 years, 3, months, 1 day, 7 hours and 32 minutes ago

Now its been 2 years, 3, months, 1 day, 7 hours and 48 minutes. You should be proud!

50 posted on 01/26/2005 3:32:21 PM PST by spodefly (Yo, homey ... Is that my briefcase?)
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To: bullseye876
Johnny Carson smoked. He lived 80 years.

From the testimony of others on this tread, most smokers are not that lucky.

51 posted on 01/26/2005 3:33:03 PM PST by My2Cents ("I look to two things: First to God and then to Fox News.")
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To: BullDog108

No smoking for me. I have asthma and other respiratory problems so my ability to breathe is significantly below normal. Unfortunately, I love to ski this time of year, so it is always a major medical event for me to go up into the cold thin air and not trigger an attack. I take along my usual drugs, plus an extra inhaler and a steroid burst pack on each trip.


52 posted on 01/26/2005 3:33:45 PM PST by Kirkwood
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To: RobFromGa

Thanks for the ping (((((Rob))))) - you've been on my mind. Hoping all is well.

.45MAN and I quit smoking 7+ years ago. It's still one day at a time for me. Wish I had never started the darn things.

RIP Mr. Carson. Prayers for his family.


53 posted on 01/26/2005 3:34:10 PM PST by dansangel
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To: LauraleeBraswell

haha.......that is me but I only drink occasionally on the weekends so that is nipped in the bud....working out helped me stop 25 years ago after only a few years of smoking and it still makes me feel better but i still like to smoke a little when I drink more than a couple


54 posted on 01/26/2005 3:34:11 PM PST by NorCalRepub
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To: glasseye
Still JUST A BIT CRANKY.......*grin

LOL! I knew I had really quit when I dreamed of cigarettes being around me and offered and I turned them down. Before that I would always wake up before I could decide.

55 posted on 01/26/2005 3:34:35 PM PST by freedumb2003 (Don't bring a moped to a car fight)
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To: BullDog108

....Hmmmm....must be the Poster's Cough that gives us away...;)


56 posted on 01/26/2005 3:35:05 PM PST by small voice in the wilderness (Quick, act casual. If they sense scorn and ridicule, they'll flee..)
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Comment #57 Removed by Moderator

To: Shortwave

but nicotine is only the addictive part, it is not in and of itself that harmful......it is the tar, additives and all the other crap that kills you, the nicotine only gets you coming back for more


58 posted on 01/26/2005 3:35:53 PM PST by NorCalRepub
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To: spodefly

"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."

True, but there is a family history of longevity in Carson's family, so he potentially could have lived another 20 years. On the other hand, George Burns puffed on cigars and lasted until 100, so you never know. But maybe George was like Clinton and didn't inhale.


59 posted on 01/26/2005 3:36:50 PM PST by Kirkwood
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To: Rennes Templar

My Grandfather, smoked since he was old enough to smoke in those days, allways rolled his own. I never saw him without his pounch of tobbacco and rolling papers. It wasn't peer preasure at school that got me smoking, it was having toast and coffee in the wee hours in the morning darkness, just before heading out for early morning duck hunt. This coffee laced with real dairy cream, real home made strawberry jam on my toast, and one day, my first hand rolled cigarette, Drum tobacco- the good stuff.
He died in 1978, age 94.
My great grandfather, fought ww1, ww2, was tortured in one of Hitlers death camps, somehow srvived and made it back home, smoked all his life, and died. Age 87.
His wife Sophia, went through all the hell that was the Ukraine during the great, unreported by the NYT famine, a genocide current day socialist seem to ignore. She smoked as well, and died, age 102.
My father is still alive, smoker, 88.

While it just can't be good for you, I don't buy all the anti smoking campaign B.S. either. I think there are many other factors as to whether you develop cancers, lung problems etc.
All these people were hard working people, farmed, ate what they grew, fought wars and breathed plenty of gunpowder.
Hunted, ate venision, picked berries and mushrooms (not those kind!) made home brew wine, whiskey and beer and went to church every sunday.

Eat your meat and potatoes, eat and drink everything in moderation, enjoy life when it's enjoyable. be active.
Living life to the fullest, honestly, moraly seems to have been their recipe, and they were all at peace with everything and themselves when they died.
I really don't think it matters how long you life, but HOW you live. Worry about the HOW, not the how-long.


60 posted on 01/26/2005 3:37:09 PM PST by Nuzcruizer
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