No matter what we do no one gets out of this life alive. That's just how it is.
Posted on 07/14/2005 6:24:21 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Lynn R. Smith, a newspaper publisher and force behind the Great American Smokeout, died Thursday at a nursing home where he had been in long-term care since suffering a stroke six years ago, his son Donald Smith said. Lynn Smith was 84.
He was the publisher of the Monticello Times when he founded Don't Smoke Days in Monticello and in Minnesota in 1974. That led to the Great American Smokeout, the widely observed November day that has raised awareness of the health hazards of smoking.
"He found a mission in his columns and on the Times editorial pages that he could change people's habits and change their lives, so (he) became an advocate to quit smoking," said Donald Smith, now the paper's publisher.
Smith spearheaded what he called D-Day (Don't Smoke Day) on Jan. 6, 1974, in Monticello, in central Minnesota. Three-hundred people pledged to stop smoking or using tobacco, and Smith put their names on the front page of his newspaper. Three months later, 9 percent of those people reported that they had quit smoking, Donald Smith said.
That fall, the Minnesota Lung Association and the American Cancer Society worked with Smith to promote a Minnesota Don't Smoke Day, his son recalled. Two years later, the cancer society took the concept nationwide, and the Great American Smokeout is held each year on the third Thursday of November.
The Monticello Times was Smith's fourth community newspaper. He bought the weekly in 1962 after selling the Carver County News, of Watertown, and the Lester Prairie News.
Ashes to ashes.
I quit smoking in March of 2003 and intend no disrespect for the deceased or wish to be flamed but this does show that nothing we do can prevent debilitating,awful health issues as we age.
I bring this up only because of the oft repeated argument that if we had national health care we would save money by better preventative treatments.
ping
Nobody hangs around here forever, that's for sure.
Ahhhh! We're all going to die!!!!!
You smoke,you die !
You don't smoke,you die.
I didn't even know they still had The Great American Smokeout.
Good for you on having stopped smoking.
You make a very valid point, and I also intend no disrespect for the deceased, but this also brings up the oft repeated claim that all smokers will wind up in this type situation.
It still occurs - but gets no where near the amount of press coverage it used to.
I'm having surgery in the morning and had to go for the blood work this afternoon, and talk to the anesthesia guy. so he is asking me all the standard health history questions and gets to the inevitable "Do you smoke?" I said yes and he said, you know those things will kill you, I responded with somethign along the lines of yes, I've heard all the lectures. He chuckled and said "well it's my job to tell you" then chuckled again and went on to the next question.
That was it...with all the doctors and nurses I have dealt with in the past week, that was the closest to a "lecture" I got from anyone.
BTW - the surgery is not exactly for a "health" issue, and has absolutely nothing to do with smoking.........I fell and broke my ankle last Friday and the othopedist feels it will heel better, with less of a chance of arthritis later on if he puts a plate into it, instead of just casting it.
However I go, I hope I go quick and don't spend 6 years wasting away in a nursing home.
RIP.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em. ;^)
No matter what we do no one gets out of this life alive. That's just how it is.
OMG Gabz! I was signed off last night when you posted your surgery information. You should be tucked away in the hospital right now as I type this.
Hope you get home real quick and have a speedy recovery!
"If I had known I would have lived this long, I would have taken better care of myself."
Red
Imagine that! The anti smokers swear we will live forever if we just quit smoking. Sarcasm off!
Three-hundred people pledged to stop smoking or using tobacco, and Smith put their names on the front page of his newspaper. Three months later, 9 percent of those people reported that they had quit smoking, Donald Smith said.
Found that little tidbit to be interesting. I guess the Smokeout wasn't exactly a raging success! I wonder what the figures are now, or even if they are able to do that kind of follow up. Doubt it, since it's a nationwide thing, but still, I wonder.
Good luck,Gabz----I had surgery 3 years ago and I think they were stunned when they tested me (pre-surgery) with the little breathing thingie. I did fine.
Thank you both. The surgery went just fine - in fact better than expected, because I'm typing this from home - I was originally expected to spend the night in the hospital. I'm in a lot of pain - but I'd rather be in pain here than there :)
The nurse this morning questioned me about my smoking, not in a lecturing manner, just to make sure the amount listed was correct.........she said my vitals did not indicate I smoked at all, but they were also consistent with the same tests taken yesterday and Friday night in the ER. The ansthesiologist said the exact same this to me.
So much for it being immediately known that a person that smokes or that one is lying when ones says they don't.
Hubby just called, he's on his way hoem from the pharmacy with my painkillers.........I'll freep at you soon.
Ah great!!! Glad you are home and all went well Gabz!!
And the pain killers will help a lot!!!!!
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