European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes monday february 17,1986 columns & comments a Brief word in favor of smokers by Art Buchwald the tobacco companies Are fighting Back against the steady drumbeat of anti cigarette propaganda. According to the Wall Street journal Philip Morris has launched a vigorous Campaign to prevent discrimination against smokers. The tobacco company says anti smoking zealots Are harassing smokers and violating their civil rights a Philip Morris spokesman also maintains that when it comes to reporting the smoking Story the Media Are grossly unfair to the tobacco interests and support the fringe element in the country today Bent on modifying americans behaviour to conform to their own interpretation of  1 wish the spokesman said some of the Media be cause 1 believe that anybody in this country who wants to smoke should be allowed to do so. I refuse to be lumped with zealots or members of the fringe element. While i am a born again sex Cigar smoker i would never take sides Between those courageous people who have Given up smoking and the weak miserable wretches who Are still addicted to this filthy habit. The Newspaperman s Job is to be fair and impartial on any political Issue whether it is tobacco or libyan dicta Tor col. Moa mar khad Afy. First Here Are the arguments in favor of  people who smoke Are walking time bombs wait ing to go off and the country does not have enough mental institutions to take care of All the neurotic people who would have to be committed if they weren t permitted to smoke. Smokers Are among our biggest taxpayer. Through cigarette taxes they support schools sewers and the hospitals they Check into when they get sick from smoking. Smoking contributes to the nation s Economy. Cigarette addicts will spend their last Dollar for a pack of smokes rather than throw it away on bread or milk. One of the most telling health arguments in favor of smoking is that More women Are doing it now than Ever before. They would t be smoking if it weren t Safe because women smokers Are not dumb. The More anxious people Are about lighting up the More they Are bullied by non smokers who will not Toler ate smokers in the same room. These non smoking zealots justify their rudeness by claiming they become dizzy from the fumes. This is a joke. It is a known medical fact that tobacco smoke cannot do any More physical harm to a non smoker than a Glass of warm water from the East River. The biggest fear of the tobacco companies is that i the non smoker is permitted to persecute the smoker today he will persecute diesel trucks tomorrow and consolidated Edison smokestacks next week. Now let s be fair to the other Side. The non smokers Are made up of wimps who sit around All Day waiting for a smoker to pull out a cigarette. They Are intolerant selfish people. When asked Why they object to someone enjoying a few puffs from the filter tip All the non smoker can come up with is weak i have asthma which is no reason at All. Besides the wimps a Large number of non smokers Are former smokers who gave up the Weed and now want everyone else to do the same. These people Are unbearable because they not Only ask smokers to put out their cigarettes but spend a half hour telling them Why they Are no Good. So there you have it the two opposing sides each with their own truth one composed or smoke worshippers theother always praying for fresh air. We As americans should have tolerance for both the Side that believes in a Long life and the Side that could t care less. No one has a monopoly on truth. The Only thing we can All agree on is that the tobacco companies Are not in business Lor our health c lot Angyn Tim one of a Good writer s great gifts by James j. Kilpatrick i grew up among slow talkers men in particular who dropped words a few at a time like Beans in a  that Beautiful sentence comes from Garrison Keillor s Lake Wobegon  he tossed it away in a footnote holy smokes what a writer when Lake Wobegon appeared some months ago and leaped to the top or the Best seller lists i figured Keillor was one More Homespun philosopher another Andy Rooney and to hum who need another Andy Rooney i could t Nave been More mistaken. This fellow can  makes him so Good Keillor has one of the great gifts of the Good writer it is the gift of the telling detail. The tale Dame Rebecca West had the gift. When she writes As a naturalist Annie Dillard has it. Novelists Lee Smith and Joan Didion have it. Such writers learn to look intently intently at the world around them and they store images in their minds for the Day when the images May be retrieved for effective use. 1 too have planted Beans and i have listened to such slow talkers As Bud Mcfarlane until recently the president s top National Security adviser and i can Tell you the image perfect. " have another simile. Keillor is talking about a revivalist preacher whose oratory at the altar his mesmerized his congregation. Then he stepped Down the three Steps like Aman entering the  you can t fashion a better sen tence. .,._. At a less exalted level Keillor writes of one of his Lake Wobegon residents who suffered from a Hemo Rhoid the size Ota Concord grape a particularly fresh and fragrant Orange gave off the Sweet essence of Florida a spectacular smell almost As Good As Vicks  a gossipy Nasty conversation saw innuendoes drop like Iize-12  the lugers husband and wife every january careened through the Garden Cata logs like submarine sailors on Shore leave grabbing everything in  every person who aspires to a career in writing can profit from Reading Keillor and watching his tricks of the Trade. His details Are specific accurate evocative. He does t re Call a boyhood bicycle he recalls a Schwinn. With him we do not smell cleaning fluid we smell Fels naphtha. He writes not of Tennis shoes but of Black keds not of breakfast Cereal but of grape nuts. These Are Powers of accurate observation of photo graphic recall. Keillor s conversations Between a girl and Eer younger brother Between a husband and wife Between Lodge members of the sons of Knute might have been tape recorded. He has managed to catch not merely the words of speech but the cadence of speech. Keillor has other tricks. Now and then he lets a sentence run on taking its time just feeling its Way through the typewriter. He makes deft use of sentence fragments. He entices the Reader with a sure change of Pace. Some Pas sages Are As hilarious As the Best of Twain. He knows How to draw tears As Well. Lake Wobegon Days already has sold More than a million copies. If you Haven t read it and if you want to. Delight in the work of a first rate writer get thee to thy bookseller. This Book is a Joy. Over a recent vacation i also got around to Reading Mario Puzo s the  it s a Fine yarn but the author fell into one of those Pitfalls we ought to avoid. This is a writer s unconscious obsession with  word. Puzo s word was  in fewer than a Hundred pages the Reader encounter countless insects countless statues of Jesus and countless crosses. An author is not Likely to catch such distracting irritations himself this is one of the things editors Are for. If you can t find a Good editor to look at your manuscript find a perceptive Friend c Una virus Pratt today s crossword by Eugene Sheffer across1 architect saarlnen5 shake a Huny 8 Harrow s rival12 More impudent14 son of Loki 18 new Yor City s nickname16 part 17 word wit mask or station18 expunged 20 dutch Painter 23 obstacle24 Roach and holbrook25 Moston Sej 28 sky god29 rakes so Broadway Success 32 City i Pennsyl vania34 roman states Man 35 Nick and Nora s dog 36 disease of Rye 37 Petty Prince 40 pub. Drink 41 jog42 american favorite 47 pilaster48 drunkards 49 favor 50 hasten51 certain votes down1 recede 2 son of Gad 3jopunopus 4 Orange Sand indians 5 smack one gloat 6 deep sea shocker 7 beverage8 make angiy9 resort in new Mexico 10 heraldic bearing 11 requires Cross over19 sneaky ones avg. Solution time 26 Man Shim of shh aia Aii Tiara Tsiao 20nana of to 21 african Lake 22 hebrew month23 finnish bath25 Woodland lane26 kind of rug27joslpbroi 29ponseileor Bonheur 31 Small child33 scotch plaid34 eerie 36 House wings 37 Impromptu attempt 38 River inl891 dog40 Church part 43uiaudlsh44 the Gold 2-17am. To saturday s panic. 4� aint shame 46 ending for heir or lion i 2-17 win Tju More ssh who sure our Sodden sex Nisi Ahmow 9 of repay -7 to pea nk3htfy/ooe5snaiposiness? 1heline90fhow id ease into retirement after fort years a9apepkmted