Don't Smoke! Live! (nonfiction)
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"Don't Smoke! Live!" was the credo of Ching W. (Gerald) Johnson.
Ching ... classified ads ...
Don't Smoke! Live!
Personal reminiscence
"Don't Smoke! Live" is an iconic phrase in my childhood memories ... more than the phrase, what I remember are many times looking at newspaper classified ads and seeing the words, always the same —
"Don't Smoke! Live!" —Ching Johnson
There was a mystery about it. Every other classified ad wanted you to buy something. This ad told you to do something to better yourself. And who was this Ching Johnson anyway, and why was he named Ching?
In the News
Fiction cross-reference
Nonfiction cross-reference
External links
- Post @ Twitter (2 January 2023)
- Ching W. (Gerald) Johnson - Obituary @ Star Tribune (30 May 2007) - "Ching helped hundreds of people make the decision to stop smoking. For over 35 years he ran an ad in the personals column of the Star Tribune stating DON'T SMOKE! LIVE!!, Ching Johnson. In 1998 the Hennepin County Commissioners declared Thursday November 19th, 1998 Ching Johnson Day in Hennepin County. His life was full of great rewards to stomp out smoking. Right up to the end he could be heard telling a fellow veteran at the VA, "Get back in bed, that last cigarette may be the one that kills you."