When it came over the wire, the news that Jimmy Carter has cancer saddened--as when anybody reports such a diagnosis--former president or not, 90 years old or not.
But we Americans follow our presidents (and former presidents) so closely that it was like an old friend's reporting bad news. In this case, Mr. Carter's statement was concise, informative and delivered without any unnecessary details: "Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body," he said. "I will be rearranging my schedule as necessary so I can undergo treatment by physicians at Emory Healthcare."
All of us will wish him a speedy and complete recovery. At such times politics ceases to matter, and one realizes how long he's been part of the news and of so many of our lives, and how much we want him to remain so. Be well, sir, and stay strong. We have an idea you will, for after all the controversies you've gone through, not to say initiated, you're not about to give up now.
It was typical of the former president's full and never-ceasing engagement with public affairs that he would add a warning about smoking to the announcement that he'd been diagnosed with cancer. Which could not have come as a total surprise--for he has a family history of pancreatic cancer, having lost his father, brother and two sisters to the disease. He noted that the National Institutes of Health has no record of any other family having lost so many of its members that same way. He also added this word to the wise: Having been the only non-smoker in his family "may have been what led to a longer life" in his case. Public Service Announcment sent; here's hoping it's received. And acted on.
Editorial on 08/14/2015