Saturday 18 April 2009

THE JOYS OF PIPE SMOKING


Smoking is these days frowned upon, but I do think that a person should be allowed to smoke if that's their choice. I still enjoy the odd cigar, and a rolled cigareete on times but one thing I will never give up is my beloved pipe. I started pipe smoking many years ago, and consider it more of a hobby than a habit.

It's also better for you than cigarettes, since most of the time the smoker does not inhale. And there's few pleasures as good as a glass of full bodied red wine, a good book and a pipe.

(Pictured - Tolkien enjoying his pipe)

There is a definate art to pipe smoking and nothing helps me concentrate more when I'm writing than having a pipe hanging from my lips. I always used to be self conscious when puffing since it always seemed only the really old smoked pipes but these days the hobby, perhaps as a result of the draconian smoking laws is seeing something of a comeback.

There is an interesting pipe smoking podcast  HERE

So please don't demonise us pipe smokers - after all we are in good company.

Abbott, John (Actor)
Adams, John (President of U.S., Statesman)
Anderson, Sparky (sports figure)
Armstrong, Neil (Astronaut)
Atkins, Chet (Entertainer)
Aykroyd, Dan (Entertainer)
Bach, Johann S. (Composer)
Bacon, Sir Francis (Intellectual, Scholar)
Baldwin, Stanley (English Prime Minister, Statesman)
Barrie, Sir James M. (Writer)
Barth, Karl (Theologian)
Baudelaire, Charles (Poet)
Bell, Alexander Graham (Inventer)
Bellamy, Ralph (Actor)
Benchley, Robert (Humorist, Writer)
Benn, Tony (English Political Leader)
Benhard, Prince of the Netherlands
Bildt, Carl (Swedish Prime Minister)
Bismarck, Prince Otto Eduard Leoplold von (German statesman)
Blucher, Gen. Gebhard von (Prussian military leader)
Bohr, Neils (Physicist)
Braxton, Anthony (Composer, Musician)
Brera, Gianni (Italian sports journalist)
Brett, Jeremy (Actor)
Bruce, Nigel (Actor)
Brynner, Yul (Actor)
Burns, Arthur (Economist, Chair of U.S. Fed. Reserve)
Byrd, Richard E. (Explorer)
Byron (George Gordon, Lord Byron; Poet)
Cannell, Stephen J. (Writer; television creator, producer, and host)
Carlson, Chet (inventor of Xerography)
Carter, Ron (Musician)
Casals, Pablo (cellist, conductor)
Cerf, Bennett (Humorist)
Chancellor, John (U.S. news broadcaster)
Chandler, Raymond (Writer)
Chapman, Graham (English entertainer, member of Monty Python)
Cheever, John (Writer)
Chenault, Claire (founder of Flying Tigers, WWII General)
Chomsky, Noam (Linguist, Political Activist)
Clemens, Samuel (Mark Twain; writer)
Conrad, Paul (Cartoonist)
Conrad, William (Actor)
Corbiere, Tristan (Poet)
Cosby, William "Bill", Jr. (Entertainer)
Crane, Stephen (Writer)
Crocket, Davy (U.S. Congressman, frontiersman)
Cronkite, Walter (TV Journalist)
Cronyn, Hume (Actor)
Crosby, Bing (Singer, Actor)
Cushing, Peter (Actor)
Dannay, Frederic (one-half of Ellery Queen; Writer)
Darwin, Charles (Biologist)
Davis, Angela (Political activist, academic)
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan (Writer)
Duchamp, Marcel (Artist)
Dulles, Allen (Diplomat, Head of CIA)
Dunn, Donald "Duck" (Musician)
Dupine, A.A.L. (George Sand; writer)
Earp, Wyatt (U.S. Frontier figure)
Eckstine, Billy (Singer)
Edward VII, King of England (Prince Albert of Wales)Einstein, Albert (Physicist, Mathematician)
Eisenhower, Dwight (Military leader, President of U.S.)
Ellison, Harlan (Writer)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo (Poet)
Euler, Leonard (Mathematician)
Farber, Myron (Writer, Journalist)
Faulkner, William (Writer)
Feiffer, Jules (Cartoonist, Humorist)
Fenwick, Millicent (US Congress Member, Stateswoman)
Fitzgerald, Barry (Actor)
Fitzgerald, Ray (Sports writer)
Foote, Shelby (Writer)
Ford, Gerald (U.S. President, Statesman)
Ford, John (Film director)
Fox, Richard (Actor)
Franks, Dr. Robert, Lord (English Diplomat)
Frederick I, King of Prussia
Frederick, King of Denmark
Frederick-Wilhelm I, King of Prussia
Freud, Sigmund (Psychaitrist)
Fugard, Athol (Playwright)
Gable, Clark (Actor)
Galway, James (Flutist)
Garbo, Greta (Actress)
Gardner, John (Writer)
Geisel, Theodor Seuss ("Dr. Seuss"; Writer, Cartoonist, Animator)
Gershwin, Ira (Lyricist)
Godfrey, Arthur (Broadcaster)
Gould, Morton (Composer)
Graham, Kenneth (Writer)
Granger, Stewart (Actor)
Grant, Cary (Actor)
Grant, Ulysses S. (U.S. President, Military Leader)
Gross, Michael (Actor)
Hackett, Buddy (Entertainer)
Hackett, Joan (Actress)
Hanke, Steven (Economist, writer)
Harriot, James (Writer, Vet)
Harrison, William H. (U.S. President)
Hefner, Hugh (Publisher)
Heinsohn, Tommy (Sports Figure)
Hemingway, Ernest (Writer)
Hockney, David (Artist)
Hoffer, Eric (Writer)
Holtz, Lou (U.S. Football Coach)
Hoover, Herbert (President of U.S., Statesman, Academic)
Hubble, Edwin P. (Astronomer)
Huxley, Thomas Henry (Scientist, Writer)
Jackson, Andrew (President of U.S., Statesman)
Jackson, Mrs Andrew (First Lady of U.S.)
Jammes, Francis (Poet)
Jerome, Jerome K. (Writer)
Joyce, James (Writer)
Jung, Carl Gustav (Psychologist)
Karloff, Boris (Actor)
Kaye, Danny (Entertainer)
Kern, Jerome (Composer)
Kinnock, Neil ( Welsh Political Leader)
Kipling, Rudyard (Writer)
Klavan, Gene (Critic)
Kleber, Jean Baptiste (French military leader)
Kohl, Helmut (Chancellor of W. Germany)
Korda, Michael (Writer)
Kramer, Hilton (Writer)
Kruger, S.J. Paulus ("Oom Paul"; President of South Africa)LaGuardia, Fiorella (Mayor of New York, Statesman)
LaSalle (Military leader)
Leakey, Richard (Anthropologist)
Lederman, Leon (physicist)
Lemmon, Jack (Actor)
Letterman, David (Entertainer)
Lewis, C.S. (Writer)
Lewis, Jerry Lee (Singer, Musician)
Lewis, Sinclair (Writer)
MacArthur, Gen. Douglas (Military leader)
MacKenzie, Sir Compton (Writer)
MacMurray, Fred (Actor)
Malle, Louis (Film Director)
Mancini, Henry (Composer)
Mandel, Marvin (Gov. of Maryland)
Manet, Edouard (artist)
Mankiewicz, Joseph (Film Director)
Marney, Carlyle (Baptist Minister, Scholar)
Martin, Billy (Sports figure)
Martin Jack (Western writer and actor)
Marx, Julius Arthur "Groucho" (comedian)
Masterson, William B. "Bat" (Frontier lawman, journalist)
Maugham, Somerset (Writer)
McBride, James (Film Director)
McDowell, Malcolm (Actor)
McRaney, Gerald (Actor)
Melville, Herman (Writer)
Mencken, H.L. (Journalist, Writer, Humorist)
Miller, Arthur (playwright)
Milne, A.A. (Writer)
Mingus, Charles (Musician, Composer)
Moliere, Jean Baptiste (Playwright)
Mondrian, Piet (Artist)
Morley, Christopher (Writer)
Murat (Military leader)
Naipaul,V.S. (novelist)
Newton, Sir Isaac (Physicist, Mathematician)
O'Brien, Pat (Actor)
O'Brien, Pat (TV sportscaster)
Oppenheimer, Robert (Physicist)
Oudinot (Military leader)
Pampadour, Marquise de (French Aristocrat)
Papandreou, Andreas (Greek Statesman)
Parker, Jameson (Actor)
Parks, Gordon (Photographer, Film Director, Writer)
Patton, Gen. George S., Jr. (Military leader)
Pershing, Gen. John "Blackjack" (Military leader)
Pertini, Sandro (Italian President)
Piaget, Jean (Behaviorist, Scientist)
Poindexter, Adm. John F. (Military leader, Iran-Contra figure)
Porsche, Ferdinand (Automobile designer)Powell, William (Actor)
Priestley, J.B (Writer)
Pritchett, V.S. (Writer)
Quayle, Anthony (Actor)
Rathbone, Basil (Actor)
Reagan, Ronald (U.S. President, Statesman, Actor)
Reston, James (Journalist)
Richardson, Sir Ralph (Actor)
Robinson, Edward G. (Actor)
Rockwell, Norman (Artist)
Roosevelt, Franklin (U.S. President, Statesman)
Rose, David (Composer)
Rosten, Leo (Writer)
Russell, Bertrand (Philosopher)
Ruth, George Herman "Babe" (Sports figure)
Ryan, Buddy (Sports figure)
Sabin, Albert (Scientist)
Sadat, Anwar (Egyptian President, Statesman)
Salk, Jonas (Scientist)
Sand, George (see Dupine, AAL)
Sandburg, Carl (Poet, writer)
Sarowiwa, Ken (Nigerian author)
Sartre, Jean-Paul (Philosopher)
Scalia, Antonin (U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Scholar)
Schaefer, Jack (Writer)
Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. (Historian)
Schlesinger, James (U.S. Defense Secretary)
Schnellenberger , Howard (U.S. Football Coach)
Schwarzenegger, Arnold (Actor)
Schweitzer, Albert (Missionary, Doctor)
Scott, Randell Falcon (English South Pole Explorer)
Seuss, Dr. (See Geisel, Theodor)
Sequoia (developed Cherokee alphabet)
Shackelford, Ted (Actor)
Shaw, Irwin (Writer)
Shirer, William (Writer, journalist)
Sikking, James (Actor)
Simenon, Georges (Writer)
Simon, Norton (Philanthropist, businessman)
Simon, William (Writer, politician)
Spelling, Aaron (Television Producer)
Stalin, Joseph (Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; Dictator, Mass Murderer)
Stallone, Sylvester (Actor)
Stein, Gertrude (Intellectual)
Stevens, George (Film Director)
Stevenson, Coke (Gov. of Texas)
Tati, Jacques (Actor)
Taurog, Norman (Film Director)
Taylor, Mrs. Zachary (First Lady of U.S.)
Tennyson (Alfred, Lord Tennyson; Poet)
Thurber, James (Cartoonist, humorist)
Tolkien, J.R.R. (Writer)
Tracy, Spencer (Actor)
Trudeau, Pierre (Canadian Prime Minister, Statesman)
Twain, Mark (see Clemens, Samuel)
Van Buren, Martin (U.S. President)
Van Gogh, Vincent (Artist)
Victoria, Queen of England
Villa, Bob (Television "how-to" personality)
Walesa, Lech (Polish Statesman)
Wallace, Irving (Writer)
Waters, Frank (Writer)
Waugh, Evelyn (Writer)
Welles, Orson (Film Director, Actor)
Weston, Edward (photographer)
Whitmore, James (Actor)
Wilson, Harold, Lord (English Prime Minister, Statesman)
Wodehouse, P.G. (Writer)
Yermakov, Nicholas (Writer)
Young, John (Astronaut)
Young, Robert (Actor)

18 comments:

Scott said...

Gary,

Nice post! I don't smoke a pipe, but I also enjoy the occasional cigar. A good friend of mine is a pipe smoker as well...maybe i'll have to start !

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

Scott - I agree that smoking should not be done in public places but it should not be so frowned upon. It's personal choice and once I don't want to encourage anyone to smoke - it is a pleasure pipe smoking when one had mastered the art.

Jo Walpole said...

I tried to get my Terry to smoke a pipe instead of ciggies but he says he'd have to wear a cardi and he's still to young. Men!

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

Jo - I felt the same way but now I think it's cool. Mind you I already have a cardi.

Charles Gramlich said...

I would think a pipe would distract me but maybe it's all about developing it as a kind of habit. I probably do things when I'm writing that others would find breaks their concentration.

Ray said...

My dad was a pipe smoker.
Back when I was in my teens me and a mate of mine took up smoking a pipe. We were cigarette smokers at the time - but cigarettes were cheaper than pipe tobacco. So we brought the cheapest brand of cigarettes (which were Cadets)and used them as pipe baccy.
We continued pipe smoking into our twenties.
Of course, this was at a time when smoking was the acceptable thing and, therefore, had examples to follow.

Paul D Brazill said...

My dad's still a a pipe smoker at 87!

Nik Morton said...

All in good company with Sherlock Holmes, of course... Over 30 years ago I was a pipe smoker but I dropped the habit. I've put a pipe smoker's pipe to good use in a dramatic scene in my psychic spy thriller The Tehran Transmission - soon to be printed, I hear...

Keith said...

I smoke cigars. I've actually thought about a pipe. I worried it would make me look older than I am. I'm 38.

Gary Dobbs/Jack Martin said...

Keith - As I said I always felt subconscious but times is'a changing. I've been puffing the pipe now since I was thirty five and I know some twenty year olds who partake in the hobby.

Anonymous said...

I'm only 24 and started smoking pipe tobacco at 23, infact pipe is the only thing I can handle smoking. Your never to young to smoke pipe tobacco (laws aside), people that joke around at you because pipes are for older people are just missing an early opportunity. Well any ways cigarettes i believe taste nasty, and never really could ketch on to cigars. I only smoke every once in awhile but there is definitely no denying the beautiful aroma of perfectly burning Burley tobacco... As I like to say a good pipe in one hand, a beer in another, and a fishing pole by my side ... tranquility!

Anonymous said...

A few more people you should add to your list,

Bailey, Bill (comedian)
Fry, Stephen (TV genius)
May, James (TV presenter)

Thanks for listing the others!

Matthew Coniam said...

Sorry; only just come across this one, but had to comment and express my total and complete agreement!
I started pipe smoking almost as a joke a couple of years back; now it's a real pleasure.
Exactly as you say: with a glass of wine and a book, and a tremendous aid when writing.

Al (Cat fan in Canada) said...

I notice you have omitted "Uncle Albert" and many of his contemporaries in physics, Neils Bohr, et al.
"“I believe that pipe smoking contributes to a somewhat calm and objective judgement in all human affairs.”
-Albert Einstein, 1950

Anonymous said...

Please don't say England or English when you mean Britain or British. Victoria was the queen of the UK, not just of England, and Neil Kinnock was not English, but Welsh (and would probably be quite annoyed to be described as Engish).
British journalist (on the site checking facts for an article)

Unknown said...

Nice post. I've been a pipe smokers over a year and a half. I'm 47. I enjoy my pipes. Just getting into Cigars also. Smoke em if you got em! Enjoy.

The back of the hill said...

Bought my first pipe when I was thirteen, purchased the first tin of something to put in it at fourteen (scarcely six weeks later). I have been offending the keen sensibilities of outraged adults ever since, which has been over four decades.

I flatter myself that I finally look as professorial as I imagined myself at times to be, appearance-wise.

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