It was January of 1964, I was a graduate student at the Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. and it was announced that the U.S. Surgeon General, Luther Terry, was going to give an address at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University that coming Saturday, January 11th.
His subject: the health risks of smoking. There was no question about it . . . I was going to attend!
Ever since childhood, I have been death against smoking. My mom and dad smoked and I had serious asthma. I had such a hard time breathing, that at night I had to sleep propped up by pillows. I loved the out-of-doors and being able to get away from people who smoked. It seemed they were everywhere.
I arrived at the huge, medical school teaching auditorium where the presentation was to take place. I was so impressed by the state-of-the-art, multimedia screens and the theatre-like seating. There I was
in the midst of hundreds of doctors, nurses, medical staff and . . .
the entire room was filled with smoke.
It appeared that most of those who came to hear the report were habitual smokers. It was horrible, but I was determined to stay. And, I did. Luther Terry's address was most forthright, data-filled, and convincing. Huge photos of lung tissue (before and after smoking) filled the screens.
And the audience smoked through the whole 90 minutes. I was so relieved to be able to leave the building and return back to the out-of-doors.
I don't recall if Luther Terry smoked during his talk.
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