Newstalgia Reference Room - a 1974 interview with Norman Cousins, author, journalist, peace activist, social thinker and editor for The Saturday Review.
November 5, 2011

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Norman Cousins - thinker, activist, editor - discovered a cure for Cancer through The Marx Brothers.


A name not heard that often these days, Norman Cousins was one of the most well-known Authors, editors, thinkers and social activists from the 1950's through the 1970's. As editor for Saturday Review he oversaw one of the great literary magazines of the 20th Century. As Peace Activist, he was a tireless supporter of ending the Nuclear Arms race and championing the cause of world peace.

As one who battled illness for most of his life, he was a strong advocate of the power of Vitamin C and of laughter. The laughter antidote came by way of discovering a daily dose of Marx Brothers movies while suffering a recurrence of Cancer in the 1970's. He claimed that laughter and vitamin C were the two elements that eventual got him Cancer free, after receiving prognosis he only had 6 months to live.

In this interview, done for PBS in 1974, Cousins discusses with interviewer James Day his days as an Editor and his remembrances of such luminaries as Dr. Albert Schweitzer and Jawahlralal Nehru.

In case you have no idea who he is, now's a good time to be introduced.

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