Peter Jennings passes away

[DLK150]

Evidently today. It's a surprise, but not a complete surprise. Lung cancer can leave you facing some long odds, and his was evidently very aggressive.

Rest in Peace Peter. I hope your family has peace as well, knowing you won't suffer any further. Thank you for all your contributions through all these years.


Aug. 7 — ABC News Anchor Peter Jennings died today at his home in New York City. He was 67. On April 5, Jennings announced he had been diagnosed with lung cancer.

He is survived by his wife, Kayce Freed, his two children, Elizabeth, 25, and Christopher, 23, and his sister, Sarah Jennings. if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("MSIE") != -1) { document.write("<div style=\"float:left;\">"); } else if (navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Mozilla") > -1) { document.write("<div>"); }

In announcing Jennings' death to his ABC colleagues, News President David Westin wrote:


"For four decades, Peter has been our colleague, our friend, and our leader in so many ways. None of us will be the same without him.

"As you all know, Peter learned only this spring that the health problem he'd been struggling with was lung cancer. With Kayce, he moved straight into an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. He knew that it was an uphill struggle. But he faced it with realism, courage, and a firm hope that he would be one of the fortunate ones. In the end, he was not.

"We will have many opportunities in the coming hours and days to remember Peter for all that he meant to us all. It cannot be overstated or captured in words alone. But for the moment, the finest tribute we can give is to continue to do the work he loved so much and inspired us to do."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=1015438

 

[calico]

RIP

I remember watching him on 9/11...he was physically and emotionally exhausted when he signed off. I will never forget his composure that day. Sadly, that is the only time I really ever saw him report.

 

[Payton34Smith22]

Too bad, I grew up watching him. He was a great reporter. RIP+

 

[jackrussell]

Sometimes there's a lesson that (hopefully) can be learned when a high profile person passes. Peter Jennings smoked like a chimney. Give it up folks, save yourself alot of money, save your life.

I had quit after 20 years of a pack and a half a day. Still had the urge for over a year, that is until the doctor looked me in the eye, and said "you have metastatic lung cancer."

In other words, YOU'RE DEAD, just a question of when, and it's terrible way to go, knowing 2 people who passed with the very same thing.

Thankfully, a misdiagnosis. But 6 months of testing hell(except for the Xanax prescriptions) . No more urges though, totally smoke free for 5 years now.

Prayers to the Jenning's family.

 

[Zaxor]

Sometimes there's a lesson that (hopefully) can be learned when a high profile person passes. Peter Jennings smoked like a chimney. Give it up folks, save yourself alot of money, save your life.

I had quit after 20 years of a pack and a half a day. Still had the urge for over a year, that is until the doctor looked me in the eye, and said "you have metastatic lung cancer."

In other words, YOU'RE DEAD, just a question of when, and it's terrible way to go, knowing 2 people who passed with the very same thing.

Thankfully, a misdiagnosis. But 6 months of testing hell(except for the Xanax prescriptions) . No more urges though, totally smoke free for 5 years now.

Prayers to the Jenning's family.

I gave it up after 20+ years myself... smoke free for about 1 year and a half now but I still want a smoke

 

[Cbz40]

Most difficult thing I have ever tried to do........I still have the erge.ll

 

[Yeagermeister]

Most difficult thing I have ever tried to do........I still have the erge.ll

Yeah but you liked those little twisted cigs :laugh2:

 

[Payton34Smith22]

It's been about a week since I smoked a cig. I quit, because I was getting pretty bad, smoking two or three packs a day.

This is the second time I have quit in 16 yrs, but only this time, I'm quiting for good!

 

[Zaxor]

It's been about a week since I smoked a cig. I quit, because I was getting pretty bad, smoking two or three packs a day.

This is the second time I have quit in 16 yrs, but only this time, I'm quiting for good!

Keep that spirit Bro. I know you can do it... I was smoking 50-55 cigs a day... I had to go cold turkey as I am too weak to slowly back off...Its not easy but its worth it...if you want to talk about it feel free to pm me

 

[Zaxor]

Most difficult thing I have ever tried to do........I still have the erge.ll

Me and you both friend...

I think if they came out with something to cure all the bad things about smoking...I would be glad to smoke again as I REALLY enjoyed it

 

[Payton34Smith22]

Keep that spirit Bro. I know you can do it... I was smoking 50-55 cigs a day... I had to go cold turkey as I am too weak to slowly back off...Its not easy but its worth it...if you want to talk about it feel free to pm me

No, it's not easy lol. Thanks Zaxor.

 

[SweCowboy]

Sometimes there's a lesson that (hopefully) can be learned when a high profile person passes. Peter Jennings smoked like a chimney. Give it up folks, save yourself alot of money, save your life.

I had quit after 20 years of a pack and a half a day. Still had the urge for over a year, that is until the doctor looked me in the eye, and said "you have metastatic lung cancer."

In other words, YOU'RE DEAD, just a question of when, and it's terrible way to go, knowing 2 people who passed with the very same thing.

Thankfully, a misdiagnosis. But 6 months of testing hell(except for the Xanax prescriptions) . No more urges though, totally smoke free for 5 years now.

Prayers to the Jenning's family.

I just quit a month ago. Hardly dared go outside for two weeks before the actual physical cravings would stop. Now I only have the urge for a cigarette when I start thinking about it.

/David

 

[Khartun]

I gave it up after 20+ years myself... smoke free for about 1 year and a half now but I still want a smoke

It's been 2 years and 8 months since I quit. I still have the urge if I'm around smokers or I'm drinking.

 

[Zaxor]

It's been 2 years and 8 months since I quit. I still have the urge if I'm around smokers or I'm drinking.

Know exactly what you mean my friend and GO Harvesters

 

[Duane]

April '96 was the last one I smoked. What's weird is I have dreams occasionally where I'm smoking.

 

[Yeagermeister]

36 yrs smoke free for me but I grew up around heavy smokers

 

[DLK150]

I've been at it 27 years, and no, it's not easy to stop. I don't do it as much in the spring and summer when I'm busy outside at home, but winter always gets me going again. My father passed away from cancer 4 years ago, and he quit smoking at 61, 20 years before he died. I've cut back since, but still do it too much.

I thought it would be harder for me to quit drinking than smoking, but that hasn't been the case. Going cold turkey with drinking was a walk in the park compared to quitting tobacco.

I'd like to add a note to this. To any younger posters who may have contemplated smoking or just started, stop now. There's nothing that feels good about it or is cool once you've done it for a long time, and you end up battling bronchitis, emphysema, COPD, or cancer. In the past 5 years I've seen my father die from cancer, my uncle die from it, my brother fight it, a sister-in-law still fighting it, a brother-in-law with emphysema, and my cousin's husband with chronic respiratory problems. Before I cut back I was coming down with bronchitis almost yearly for a long time. It's simply not worth it to start.

 

[Zaxor]

I've been at it 27 years, and no, it's not easy to stop. I don't do it as much in the spring and summer when I'm busy outside at home, but winter always gets me going again. My father passed away from cancer 4 years ago, and he quit smoking at 61, 20 years before he died. I've cut back since, but still do it too much.

I thought it would be harder for me to quit drinking than smoking, but that hasn't been the case. Going cold turkey with drinking was a walk in the park compared to quitting tobacco.

I'd like to add a note to this. To any younger posters who may have contemplated smoking or just started, stop now. There's nothing that feels good about it or is cool once you've done it for a long time, and you end up battling bronchitis, emphysema, COPD, or cancer. In the past 5 years I've seen my father die from cancer, my uncle die from it, my brother fight it, a sister-in-law still fighting it, a brother-in-law with emphysema, and my cousin's husband with chronic respiratory problems. Before I cut back I was coming down with bronchitis almost yearly for a long time. It's simply not worth it to start.

Well said my friend lets hope they are wise enough to take heed...

 

[jackrussell]

Film, Stage Star Barbara Bel Geddes Dies



Aug 10, 4:34 PM (ET)

By BOB THOMAS



LOS ANGELES (AP) - Barbara Bel Geddes, the winsome actress who rose to stage and movie stardom but reached her greatest fame as Miss Ellie Ewing in the long-running TV series "Dallas," has died. She was 82.

The San Francisco Chronicle said Bel Geddes, a longtime smoker, died Monday of lung cancer at her home in Northeast Harbor, Maine. Jordan-Fernald Funeral Home in Mount Desert, Maine, confirmed the death Wednesday, but owner Bill Fernald said the family asked that no further information be given out.

Bel Geddes was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress for the 1948 drama "I Remember Mama" and was the original Maggie the Cat on Broadway in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

But she was best known as the matriarch of the rambunctious Ewing oil family on "Dallas," which hurtled to the top of the ratings despite negative reviews. Bel Geddes won an Emmy in 1980 as best lead actress in a drama series and remains the only nighttime soap star to be so honored.

"She was the rock of 'Dallas,'" Larry Hagman, who played J.R. Ewing, told The Associated Press. "She was just a really nice woman and a wonderful actress. She was kind of the glue that held the whole thing together."

Bel Geddes called "Dallas "real fun," but it was also marked by tragedy. In 1981, Jim Davis, who played Miss Ellie's husband, Jock Ewing, died.

"It was like losing her own husband again," said "Dallas" producer Leonard Katzman. "It was a terribly difficult and emotional time for Barbara."

In March 1984, Bel Geddes was stricken with a major heart attack. Miss Ellie was played by Donna Reed for six months, then Bel Geddes returned to "Dallas," remaining until 1990, a year before CBS canceled the show.

Hagman said he had encouraged Bel Geddes to give up the smoking habit, but it was doctors who got her to quit after the heart attack, he said. He recalled the makeup room on the "Dallas" set as being so filled with her cigarette smoke that he would ask to be made up in his dressing room.

Of the lung cancer deaths of Peter Jennings and Bel Geddes, Hagman said: "I hope it's a wake-up call to a lot of people."

"Dallas" came late in her career. She had retired to take care of her husband, Windsor Lewis, after he fell ill with cancer in 1966. He died in 1972.

Her earnings depleted by his long illness, she found work scarce for a middle-aged actress and said she was "flat broke" in 1978 when she accepted the role as Miss Ellie.

In 1945, Bel Geddes made a splash on Broadway at 23 with her first important role in "Deep Are the Roots," winning the New York Drama Critics Award as best actress.

She announced to a reporter: "My ambition is to be a good screen actress. I think it would be much more exciting to work for Frank Capra, George Cukor, Alfred Hitchcock or Elia Kazan than to stay on Broadway."

Hollywood was quick to notice. In 1946 she signed a contract with RKO that granted her unusual request to be committed to only one picture a year. In her first movie she costarred with Henry Fonda in "The Long Night," a disappointing remake of a French film.

Her second film was a hit playing a budding writer in George Stevens'"I Remember Mama," the touching story of an immigrant family in San Francisco starring Irene Dunne as Mama. With her delicate features and patrician manner, Bel Geddes became a popular leading lady in films.

"I went out to California awfully young," she remarked. "I remember Lillian Hellman and Elia Kazan telling me, 'Don't go, learn your craft.' But I loved films." After four movies, Howard Hughes, who had bought control of RKO in 1948, dropped her contract because "she wasn't sexy enough."

Bel Geddes was devastated. But it turned out to be a good happenstance. She had time to return to the stage, and she scored a triumph in 1955 as Maggie the Cat in Tennessee Williams'"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

Yet her biggest Broadway success was "Mary, Mary," a frothy marital comedy by Jean Kerr, which opened in 1961 and ran for more than 1,500 performances.

In her film career, Bel Geddes was able to work with great filmmakers such as Kazan ("Panic in the Streets") and Alfred Hitchcock ("Vertigo"). She also costarred with Danny Kaye in "The Five Pennies" and with Jeanne Moreau in "Five Branded Women."

"By Love Possessed" in 1961 was her last film for 10 years. She made her final films in 1971 - "Summertree" and "The Todd Killings."

Among Bel Geddes' other major theater credits were roles in Terence Rattigan's "The Sleeping Prince" (1956); Robert Anderson's "Silent Night, Holy Night" (1959), which co-starred Henry Fonda; and Edward Albee's "Everything in the Garden" (1967). She was born in New York City on Oct. 31, 1922, the daughter of renowned industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes.

"I didn't see much of my father," she said, "but I absolutely adored him." After her education in private schools, he found her a job at a summer theater and used his connections with stage people to help her get work.

Early in her stage career Bel Geddes married Carl Schreuer, an electrical engineer, and they had a daughter, Susan. The marriage ended after seven years in 1951, and that year she married director Lewis. They had a daughter, Betsy.

---

Associated Press writers Clarke Canfield in Portland, Maine, Michael Kuchwara in New York, and Lynn Elber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.


RIP Miss Ellie.

Give it up folks. I know it's hard. REALLY hard. Do what you can, anything, but make it a life's goal.