Ya gots to read this one Folks!!

[RandyW]

Buchwald Wasn't the First NSNC Honoree to Cheat Death

By Dave Astor

Published: July 13, 2006 2:25 PM Et

NEW YORK Do you want to stave off death? An award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists (NSNC) may be the best medicine.

It's well-known that Art Buchwald recently left a hospice after making a miraculous recovery despite refusing dialysis. During his hospice stay, the Tribune Media Services columnist received many visitors and honors -- including the NSNC's Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award.

Two years ago, the NSNC named Crossville (Tenn.) Chronicle columnist Dorothy Brush its 2004 Columnist of the Year for her work and for never missing a deadline while battling lung cancer. Brush was told that her cancer was terminal, and opted not to have chemotherapy or radiation treatments. She's now symptom-free.

This week, NSNC Immediate Past President Suzette Martinez Standring received a note from Brush saying: "An interesting thought came to me. If NSNC isn't careful they will become known as the columnist's Lourdes. In 2004 I was honored as Columnist of the Year because we all thought my time was running out. Look what happened. I'm still going strong!"

Brush, who's in her 80s, added: "In 2006, Art Buchwald was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award while he was in a hospice waiting for the call. Look what happened. Two miracles in two years -- wow! Strange and wonderful things happen."

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Dave Astor (dastor@editorandpublisher.com) is a senior editor at E&P.