So, my friend Helen was reading the October 1952 issue of Family Circle and wants to try and figure out who the author mentioned above could possibly be.
And then we got decades of bad dietary advice based on ideology, junk science, and funding from the cereal grains industry, resulting in us being fatter than ever and gaining no increase in life expectancy despite all our improvements in medical technology. Oops.
@Cail and @Sign Name, that's right. Inversion. Consider doing the opposite. One of the biggest killers has been trans fats, imposed on the public first and foremost by the grains and soybean industry, with the junk science created to support the op. With blessings from higher up. Better believe it.
Two things: there's nothing that says it's a woman or a man (Sam could be a nickname for Samantha) and there's nothing that says the conversation occurred in modern times. That opens it up to any author with a first name of Sam (or a nickname of Sam) who died at age 56. I'm still looking!!
Hemingway died in 1961 and Welles in 1985, aged 61 and 70 respectively, so not them. Benchley put on weight late in life, he died aged 56, he was a New York literary figure and Family Circle was published in New York ... pretty good fit.
Lots of guesses so far that, to say the least, rely on "red herrings". The blind states that the article was published in October 1952. The article states that "Sam" had died, at age 56. We don't know when that happened. It could have been some time earlier. The article does not specify Sam as male or female, and Sam could be either. The real author's name might be different, of course.
Ian Fleming died st age 56 in 1964. Heavy drinker and smoker. Dropped dead of a heart attack. History of them, but he continued his lifestyle. Was he obese? Not sure
Didn't a bunch of authors have a sort of "round table" at a hotel in NYC, prob in the fifties? Including Dorothy Parker? I want to guess the Algonquin, or maybe the Plaza
Enty I thought the doctor was talking to you at the very beginning. Robert Benchley?
ReplyDeleteSandy, Benchley died at 56 but he wasn't overweight. Not even by today's standards.
ReplyDeleteTruman Capote?
ReplyDeleteHe was still very much alive in 1952, Tricia....This is a tough one!
ReplyDeleteI agree-thinking rotund and I see Orson Welles but doesn’t fit timeline and he was also director etc
DeleteHard to tell, he's not obese and he's not thin either. He died in 1947.
ReplyDeleteCould be Curly Howard (Curly Three Stooges) He did do some writing for various publications.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a chat between Rihanna and her doctor.
ReplyDelete+ 1 robert Benchley dead at 56 in 1945, he was a superstar in his day. his grandson wrote jaws
ReplyDeleteAuthor: Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (Evelyn Waugh)
ReplyDeleteThe famous Dr. Benjamin Spock - famous in the 1950's.
Just casually reading a 1952 issue of Family Circle y'know, like people do these days lol
ReplyDeleteI love reading old magazines. Esp. Popular Science. BTW, where's my flying car, dammit?
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGerman writer Alfred Neumann. Died just two weeks shy of his 57th birthday (so technically age 56) in October of 1952.
ReplyDeleteWhat me worry?😎
ReplyDeleteHehe @sandybrook
DeleteAnd then we got decades of bad dietary advice based on ideology, junk science, and funding from the cereal grains industry, resulting in us being fatter than ever and gaining no increase in life expectancy despite all our improvements in medical technology. Oops.
ReplyDelete@Cail +1
DeleteWhatever the govt recommends for your health, consider doing the opposite as it is likely better
@Cail and @Sign Name, that's right. Inversion. Consider doing the opposite. One of the biggest killers has been trans fats, imposed on the public first and foremost by the grains and soybean industry, with the junk science created to support the op. With blessings from higher up. Better believe it.
DeleteOT holy shit they caught the Golden State Killer / EAR / ONS
ReplyDeletenever would have thought
40 years later
Good job Michelle
Sam
ReplyDeleteRemember these are overweight standards in 1945, not today. Benchley became a heavy drinker at the end of his life and put on weight.
ReplyDeletehere is a profile pic showing some pudginess
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ROBERT-BENCHLEY-in-How-to-Raise-a-Baby-Original-DOUBLE-WEIGHT-Vintage-1938-/310362105560
Or it can just be a made up piece.
Evelyn Waugh died in 1966 and wasn't THAT fat. Mostly he was an enthusiastic drinker and smoker.
ReplyDelete"Evelyn's" a boy??
DeleteJesustake mybeer.
TIL I'm sexist
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteTwo things: there's nothing that says it's a woman or a man (Sam could be a nickname for Samantha) and there's nothing that says the conversation occurred in modern times. That opens it up to any author with a first name of Sam (or a nickname of Sam) who died at age 56. I'm still looking!!
ReplyDeleteHemingway died in 1961 and Welles in 1985, aged 61 and 70 respectively, so not them. Benchley put on weight late in life, he died aged 56, he was a New York literary figure and Family Circle was published in New York ... pretty good fit.
ReplyDeleteLots of guesses so far that, to say the least, rely on "red herrings". The blind states that the article was published in October 1952. The article states that "Sam" had died, at age 56. We don't know when that happened. It could have been some time earlier. The article does not specify Sam as male or female, and Sam could be either. The real author's name might be different, of course.
ReplyDeleteSomeone on Twitter guessed Alexander Woolcott. He was pretty heavy and he did die at 56.
ReplyDeleteObesity is not a reliable method of euthanasia.
ReplyDelete+1 the Alexander Woollcott guess. The dates fit, he was a very famous writer in his day, he was fat, and a smoker.
ReplyDelete@Rosie, Evelyn used to be a male name, like Carol or Beverly.
ReplyDeleteOr Ashley or Meredith. Or Vivian. Or Joyce.
Or Hillary.
Smells like Benchley to me. Or Shakespeare. (Just to fit in with absurd guessers here on CDAN...)
ReplyDeleteI’m going with the guesses already named. I’m just here to say I love this BI.
ReplyDeleteI’m all about reading old magazines and if there was a subscription service to receive digital copies of old magazines every month, I would be THERE.
Ian Fleming died st age 56 in 1964. Heavy drinker and smoker. Dropped dead of a heart attack. History of them, but he continued his lifestyle. Was he obese? Not sure
ReplyDeleteTwitter guess nailed it. Alexander Woolcott. Friend of Dorothy, Benchley, Ross, Ferber, etc
ReplyDeletePaul Eluard would fit except I doubt anybody knew who he was in America
ReplyDeleteDidn't a bunch of authors have a sort of "round table" at a hotel in NYC, prob in the fifties? Including Dorothy Parker?
ReplyDeleteI want to guess the Algonquin, or maybe the Plaza
@rosie riveter, yes, Evelyn is a boy, and a big boy at that...
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_de_Rothschild
@Pamela Olson: It was 1919-1929. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquin_Round_Table
ReplyDeleteSo if author is Alexander Woolcott, who's the famous doctor? Pritikin? Atkins? Tarnower?
ReplyDeleteWoolcottt does fit better.
ReplyDeletecare factor 0
ReplyDelete