What a heartbreaking shame, the passing of Dana Reeve of lung cancer. It's almost too much, although these things happen to ordinary people out of the spotlight of celebrity every day. Tragedy follows tragedy and we never hear a thing about it if the tragedies befall a person less fair and less gifted.
I think about the son left behind by both of these super parents and a grandparent; who will guide him through this horrible time? He's already deep in the throes of puberty, painful enough for the average American child. Will the super-ness of his parents help? or will he suffer even more for it? I pray for the best.
But I pray for others now; with Dana's passing, a niggling question at the back of my mind grows louder. We lost Peter Jennings to lung cancer, and no one thought much of the cause because of his history of smoking. We also lost Don Knotts to lung cancer, and no one thought much of it because he was in his eighties. Memory fails me at this point, but I believe there've been other celebrities who've succumbed to lung cancer in the last couple of years.
How many of them were in New York City during or post-9/11? And are there others who have been or are being treated for lung cancer even now?
Just a niggling thought.
I think about the son left behind by both of these super parents and a grandparent; who will guide him through this horrible time? He's already deep in the throes of puberty, painful enough for the average American child. Will the super-ness of his parents help? or will he suffer even more for it? I pray for the best.
But I pray for others now; with Dana's passing, a niggling question at the back of my mind grows louder. We lost Peter Jennings to lung cancer, and no one thought much of the cause because of his history of smoking. We also lost Don Knotts to lung cancer, and no one thought much of it because he was in his eighties. Memory fails me at this point, but I believe there've been other celebrities who've succumbed to lung cancer in the last couple of years.
How many of them were in New York City during or post-9/11? And are there others who have been or are being treated for lung cancer even now?
Just a niggling thought.
Comments
In the case of entertainers specifically, many of them may have smoked or been exposed to smoke, increasing their odds of cancer. But many of them also were in NYC after 9/11, when air quality was horrible. We won't hear about the residents who may experience an increased rate of cancer and other breathing ailments because of this unusual exposure; the Feds hid much of the information citizens should have had to protect themselves. I wonder if the only indication we will have that there is a problem, a possible cluster, is an increased number of celebrities who came and went out of NYC in autumn 2001 -- at least until the Bush Adminstration is history.