It's kind of strange to think about smoking these days, isn't it? Smoking was pervasive, almost socially obligatory in some settings. I was 10 in 1972, so a bit younger than you were then, but even so, I remember very well how contradictory and strange attitudes were about smoking.

People smoked in restaurants and on airplanes without thinking twice about it — while other people were eating. Advertisements portrayed smoking as cool and sophisticated. All the most famous people smoked, and sometimes were photographed smoking while striking glamorous poses.

But good Baptist didn't smoke! Heaven's no, not unless they were deacons in my Alabama Baptist church who snuck out back after services while their wives wagged their heads and gossiped about them. Boys will be boys!

Interesting times.