Posted on 06/01/2010 4:42:27 AM PDT by Puppage
The son of legendary TV newsman Ted Koppel died early Monday after a night of drinking that ended in the seedy Manhattan apartment of a pub crawl acquaintance.
Andrew Koppel, a 40-year-old attorney with the New York City Housing Authority with a history of alcohol problems, was declared dead around 1:30 a.m., according to the New York Post. Police sources told the newspaper Koppel had stumbled two and a half hours earlier into the Washington Heights apartment of Russell Wimberly, a waiter he had met 12 hours earlier in a Hell's Kitchen bar.
A roommate of Wimberly, Belinda Caban, told the Post Koppel was extremely drunk and that they put him to bed, only to find him dead hours later. Wimberly, 32, said they met at a bar on 44th St. and Ninth Ave., striking up a conversation after each noticed the other wearing a similar straw hat.
"He said, 'Nice hat, man,'" Wimberly told the Post. "We got to talking and he started buying me drinks."
Wimberly said Koppel drank straight whiskey, and when he suggested bar-hopping around the city, he sipped from a pint bottle of Jameson as they walked.
"There was a lot of alcohol," Wimberly told the Post.
Koppel was the third of the "Nightline" anchor's four children and their only son. In 1993, he was convicted of punching a senate aide and ordered to undergo alcohol treatment. In 1990, he was in an alcohol-related fender-bender in Maryland.
How does a man who is a raging alcoholic keep his job at the NY Housing Authority.
Was there no one to intervene.
Wonder if he had a no show job thanks to connections.
Including Fred Thompson’s daughter who drank herself to death and died as a homeless bum?
And Jeb Bush’s daughter who has been in and out of drug rehab for years?
I don’t think you can convincingly tie political ideology to the problem of families having addicted and self destructive family members. It runs the spectrum. GWBush 43 himself was lucky to pull out of an alcohol addiction.
well said
LOL
Same in my family, but it was The Six Million Dollar Man.
Just an old fact that may no longer be true.
There are very few jewish alcoholics.
From a college study I did long long ago.
The percentage of jewish people getting treatment for alcoholism was insignificant.
Did it ever occur to you that because you believe something that doesn’t make it true.
Often what happens is that even the minority of the Left that don't abuse drugs or alcohol to a great extent are surrounded by so many that do, they pick of the bad behavior and way of reasoning so they can function in their dysfunctional environment.
While on the Right the minority that do abuse drugs and alcohol to a great extent are surrounded by people who act and think normally, thus the abusers are better at hiding their problem.
This actually goes a long way in showing how correct Dr Savage is in saying that Liberalism is a mental disorder because over time that is what it has become.
Not that it matters, but that sounds a little gay to me.
Not surprising. Seems ever since the ‘60s everyone “parties” - all the time.
I am his age. My gen, those just before it and after all seem prone to this kind of immature juvenile nonsense. I’ve said all along, between the “partying” and the victim/entitlement attitudes, our country is in big trouble.
Agreed.
accurate...its a genetic thing..the opposite is the Irish.
Alcohol is just as bad as drugs.
Alcohol abuse is unfortunately a lot more prevslent than drug abuse but they are both equally horrible especially for the young.
I like a drink every now and then myself but I always keep it in check. No more than two beers and no more than two drinks of hard liquor at any one time unless I am at home and not planning to go out anywhere. But those drinking occasions are becoming less and less over time. I guess the need for alochol when one gets much older decreases. And I never ever do drugs and I never ever combine alcohol with drugs because that is a true recipe for disaster. I am clean and sober and every day I feel great and ready to face a new day. I try to plan ahead. There is not a day that goes by when I thank God that he gave me great parents whose value system was traditional, with a sense of principle, most times rigid and strict but now because of it I certainly can appreciate their efforts.
It doesn't have to be chance. There are six major sources of influence on children. All six must be protected from bad influences and have positive influences. If the guard is let down on any one then there's a door for problems. The six? Family, church, school, friends, media, and extended family. We used this approach and never had a day's problem with any of our children. There were "costs". No playing with loose neighborhood kids. Private Christain schools or home schooled. No solo visits to unsaved grandparents until teen years. Careful monitoring of songs and media. Attendance at churches that really believe the Bible. Live right in front of your children and love them. I don't believe it's chance, but ignorance, lack of desire, lack of discipline, or unwillingness.
Prayers.
I’ve seen alcohol destroy lives and ultimately end them.
Nobody wants to be an addict.
Sure it happens in the best of families.
Look at the Kennedys too.
Now there’s a bunch of degenerates, criminals and addicts for ya.
And yet they are worshipped in Massachusetts even more than God himself.
Massachusetts sure has some great value system, huh.
It is all part of the dumbing down of our entire society and culture.
And it starts in school.
It has also to do with this idea of putting celebrities on pedestals. We would do better if we put real heroes on pedestals, not celebrities. Real heroes such as firemen, police officers and our military.
Those are the real heroes of our country and thank God for every last one of them. Now THEY do the REAL work that nobody else wants to do, not illegal immigrants.
It is no accident why America is so way down on the list of countries whose education system ranks far below those of other countries.
The political system of our country keeps it so. Our own government keeps it so. And until real education reform with real accountability and responsibility is passed, it will remain so.
It’s not just “network” TV. Cable pretty much defined scum. It’s all TV.
Aren't we perfect.
These wonderful parents had an alcholic son who was one drink short of death who thru the grace of God and a wonderful friend...took him that night and checked him in to a rehab. He's 8 years sober. We Praise the Lord for that miracle.
Wonderful, God fearing parents can do all the right things, but that doesn't guarantee their kid won't go off to college sober and come back the same way.
My heart breaks for Ted Koppel and his family.
We can follow or lead by example.
How we all live affects our kids and children.
As a parent, you start with some basics and laying down rules and guidelines.
At least you provide them with that environment and atmosphere.
It may not take all the time because they develop friendships and relationships on their own and some of those friendships and relationships may be unsavory to say the least.
If you teach them right from wrong, give them a sense of purpose and support their ambitions and at the same time make them aware that all actions have consequences, especially unintended ones.
That is a start. That is a good beginning.
I do not pretend to be perfect. Far from it. But I believe I am generally a good person and I try to live my life whenever possible according to a traditional based value system that my parents taught me namely a belief in God, what it means to be a true Christian person but at the same time to try and tell the truth even when that truth is so very painful to hear (unlike politicians).
“There are so many places to get help these days.”
True enough, but if the alcoholic doesn’t want help and will not work the programs, there is nothing you can do to help them. I have a family member(brother) that is hopeless and headed to the same place as Koppel’s son. We have tried to get him help hundreds of times and others have as well. It is also hard to commit someone now thanks to liberal groups influencing the law for the last decade. We managed to get him committed to a treatment center a few years ago and they kept him only 30 days. He was drinking the very next day.
My prayers for the Koppel family. It is a tragic story all too common in so many families.
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