An Inclusive Litany

5/5/97

A commemorative stamp issued by the Postal Service honored the legendary delta blues musician Robert Johnson. The 1920s photograph on which the stamp was based showed Johnson with a cigarette dangling out of the corner of his mouth while playing guitar. On the stamp the cigarette was removed, giving Johnson's face an odd, twisted look.

[Ed.: Other prominent Americans whose images have been cleansed of their cigarettes or cigars: Edward R. Murrow, George Meany, James Dean, Thornton Wilder, and Jackson Pollock. A book by C.S. Lewis, published by HarperCollins, featured a dustjacket picture of the author holding his hand in an odd way, surrounded by a large cloud of mysterious smoke. Lewis smoked a pipe.]