Twenty-five Spools

He claimed seltzer water and club soda cause poor eyesight. He believed water softeners were bad for your heart. He said black people were less likely to get cancer because they’re “a happy race.” When self-described health expert J.I. Rodale was invited to appear on the Dick Cavett Show, it was because he could be counted on to do or say something outrageous. He didn’t disappoint. “He offered me some of his special asparagus, boiled in urine. I made a mental note to have him back,” Cavett remembers. But Rodale wasn’t invited back. Moments after announcing that he intended to live to 100, the 72-year-old suffered a fatal heart attack in front of rolling cameras and a studio audience. The show was never broadcast; the network quickly aired a rerun in its place. If there’s a moral to the story, it might be that it’s unwise to make unsubstantiated claims about one’s own longevity – at least on national television.