Eric Lawson—I shall never forget you
Ayaz Younis
These were my days in Government College Lahore that is now known as GCU. December 1986, I was studying days and nights as our B.A examinations were not far away. B.A is a crossroad situation for a student—if you miss good marks—you are thrown out of GC. Worries, depression, restlessness and sleepless nights—Yes this was a normal life of B.A student. So I became victim of smoking—not just because of what I mentioned above but because of a magazine cover advertisement. A very handsome man with a cowboy hat, smoking Marlboro (long). You understand what I mean—I started smoking and still smoking. Now I smoke Marlboro Light.
This man on magazine cover was Eric Lawson who is no more with us but he will keep with me till my last day of life.
A smoker since age 14, Lawson later appeared in an anti-smoking commercial that parodied the Marlboro man and an “Entertainment Tonight” segment to discuss the negative effects of smoking. Susan said her husband was proud of the interview, even though he was smoking at the time and continued the habit until he was diagnosed with COPD.
“He knew the cigarettes had a hold on him,” she said. “He knew, yet he still couldn’t stop.” A few actors and models who pitched Marlboro brand cigarettes have died of smoking-related diseases. They include David Millar, who died of emphysema in 1987, and David McLean, who died of lung cancer in 1995. Lawson was also survived by six children, 18 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
