Good human story about Paul Haggis, the Academy Award winning writer and director of “Crash” and “The Next Three Days.” Here’s the quote:
Haggis felt the need for a cigarette, so we walked outside. He is ashamed of this habit, especially given that, in 2003, while directing “Crash,” he had a heart attack. After Haggis had emergency surgery, his doctor told him that it would be four or five months before he could work again: “It would be too much strain on your heart.” He replied, “Let me ask you how much stress you think I might be under as I’m sitting at home while another director is finishing my fucking film!” The doctor relented, but demanded that a nurse be on the set to monitor Haggis’s vital signs. Since then, Haggis has tried repeatedly to quit smoking. He had stopped before shooting “The Next Three Days,” but Russell Crowe was smoking, and that did him in. “There’s always a good excuse,” he admitted. Before his heart attack, he said, “I thought I was invincible.” He added, “I still do.”
That’s from an article by Lawrence Wright in the Feb.14 & 21 New Yorker (double issue)
Also, rare for me kudos to Speaker of the House John Boehner. When asked about his smoking in a TV interview at the end of January, he said (I paraphrase): “It’s legal. I like it. Get a life.”
Thank you, Mr. Speaker!
