Museum hosts symposium for "Cartoonists Take Up Smoking"    Curator of the exhibit, Alan Blum, MD addresses the gallery at the symposium The museum hosted an evening symposium to highlight its new exhibit “Cartoonists Take Up Smoking,” with attendees at the 13th annual World Conference on Tobacco or Health as its invited guests. The event, entitled, “Thank you for Smiling: An evening of humor and satire,” was presented by Dr. Alan Blum, curator of the exhibit currently on display in the museum. Featured presenters were KAL (Kevin Kallaugher), editorial cartoonist for From left to right, featured presenters KAL, Anthony Brown, Leisa Sudderth, Lani Blissard, Bland Lane, Alan Blum and Patty Young The Economist, Patty Young, Bland Lane, Leisa Sudderth and Lani Blissard, pioneering flight attendants in the battle for smoke-free airlines, and Anthony Brown of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute.The presenters shared their experiences and opinions on the anti-smoking movement. KAL explained the power of cartoons to change opinion and gave the audience an opportunity to learn how to “cartoon.” The flight attendants talked openly about their experiences as non-smokers working in smoke-filled airplanes- “On a 10 hour flight from LA to Tokyo, my white hair turned yellow from the amount of smoke in the cabin. I could only imagine what my lungs looked like.” Anthony Brown presented a montage of smoking scenes in movies and television when it was a widely popular practice. Reporters from National Public Radio interview KAL, an editorial cartoonist, about the exhibit The evening was attended by nearly 200 conference goers along with two reporters from National Public Radio who interviewed KAL about his cartoons and the exhibit, and also a writer from the Washington Post, who covered the event for their Sunday Source section. "Cartoonists Take Up Smoking," is an exhibition of original newspaper editorial cartoons, presented by Dr. Blum, one of the nation's foremost authorities on the history of the tobacco industry and the battle over smoking. The exhibit retraces the 40-year battle over the use and promotion of cigarettes since the publication of the landmark Surgeon General's report on smoking and health in 1964. It also addresses complacency on the part of organized medicine, politicians, and the mass media in ending the tobacco pandemic. The exhibit features 55 original cartoons by more than 50 nationally known American editorial cartoonists and is supplemented by smoking-related items, from the original newspaper headlines that inspired the cartoons to advertisements promoting the health benefits of lighting up. Also displayed are several artifacts, as well as two preserved lungs -- one showing the ill effects of smoking and the other a healthy lung -- from the museum's anatomical collection. The exhibit is running through March 31, 2007. It will be on display at the museum, which is open every day except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The museum is located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Ave. and Elder Street, NW, Washington, D.C. For more information call (202) 782 2200. Admission and parking are free.