Dear Bill Sables,

My real name doesn't matter. Just know that I'm dying of lung cancer at the age of 44. Three months ago, I was told I had less than a year left. Sometime in the next few months, I'll make my last posting to Mudcat.

You said about me: "I presume that he/she is a non-smoker and considers him/herself more intelligent than us lesser mortals who do indeed smoke."

I wish I could say that. Unfortunately, I was stupid to start smoking at the age of 15. Less than 30 years of smoking about 15-20 cigarettes a day was enough to kill me.

I was stupid every time I lit a cigarette. Many of the facts about smoking were already well known by the time I was stupid enough to start.

You mention Pat Patterson (Catspaw) as a smoker. In view of the health problems he's suffered through, I hope he's smart enough to stop.

Dear Kim C,

You're right. Not everyone who smokes will die from it. I hope you'll be one of the lucky ones.

BTW, several of the Guest postings to this thread were not by me.