In case you hadn’t already heard, Peter Jennings, the longtime ABC World News Tonight Anchor, passed away Sunday from his battle with lung cancer.
Peter was an icon to me, the guy who delivered the news to my living room every night when I was growing up in my parents house. Many nights I remember taping the news on the VCR for my dad, who wouldn’t make it home in time to see it. Once I moved out on my own, I tried watching Dan Rather, and Tom Brokaw, but I wound up going back to Peter, because he was the best at trying to stay unbiased and seemed, to me, to be the most professional of the three.
One of the most disappointing stories Peter ever covered was on the night of April 5, 2005, when he told “World News Tonight” watchers everywhere that “I was a smoker until about 20 years ago,” and that he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Lung cancer is the worst cancer killer in America, taking more lives each year than breast, prostate and colorectal cancers combined, according to the American Cancer Society.
Dr. Derek Raghavan, director of the Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Center, said that the instant a person stops smoking, he starts getting better. Three to five years after quitting, the risk of getting lung cancer is reduced by half. However, ex-smokers may feel worse before getting better.
“You destroy so many of the little hairs that … they take awhile to grow back,” Raghavan said. “Before they can [feel any improvement], smokers sometimes report feeling a bit worse, so they say, ‘I don’t feel any better, why not smoke?’ The fact is, nothing will make you healthier than not smoking.”
*Source: ABCNews.com
If anything good can come of this, I hope there is an increased awareness in the symptoms and causes of lung cancer. And if you are a smoker, please… stop. I wouldn’t wish the same fate on any of you.
As for Mr. Jennings, thank you for your many years of excellent reporting. I understand you and your show are to receive yet another award in October. You deserve it. Good Night.
09/08/2005 at 11:13 am Permalink
Well said, I agree.
I’ve been a smoker for a while, I only recently decided to quit after a hellacious bit of bronchitis. I’m doing well but it’s difficult. Very difficult.
Peter Jennings is now part of what inspires me to stick to my guns and away from the smokes. Not that that really means anything but in death he can still inspire and that does mean something.
One thing I can say, when you finally *want* to quit it’s really not impossible. People like Jennings help make it less difficult.
I’m prattling. I’m not totally awake yet.
Good morning.
*shoots a bird at the spam police, this one’s LONG!*
09/08/2005 at 2:10 pm Permalink
I, too, watched Peter when I was growing up. Mostly because we only had 2.5 channels at the time. ABC, CBS and crappy NBC.
Later on in life, I realized that Peter needed to just report the news and quit trying being a part of it. This liberal guy had to input his feelings into a story, and held no bones about that fact.
Go back and listen to him call the President “Mr. Bush,” and also look and listen for his little snide comments injected into stories. Just read the news, ya douche!
He was quoted not too long ago saying that “it wasn’t his job to be objective.” Uh, um… isn’t journalism supposed to be objective, unless you into Op-Ed?
RIP for the memories. But smokers and lefties deserve what they get.