Several gallstones rattled out of Larry Hagman during his liver-transplant surgery this year. Hagman intends to donate those stones to an artist who will use them in a sculpture. This may seem tacky in comparison to the lifesaving gift Hagman received, but don’t think his mental faculties were affected by the operation. He simply knows that America is fascinated with celebrity giblets.
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And this year America feasted on liver. Livers in the news this year belonged to Hagman, Mickey Mantle, Chicago Bears defensive end Carl Reeves, and even, tragically, Mount Carmel High School football player Kevin Dowling. We might not like liver on the dinner table, but we couldn’t get enough of it on the news.
Medical news in ’95 showed that even the most conscientious tenants may still lose their livers. Both Reeves and Dowling overheated during football practice in the steamy summer temperatures, throwing their livers into overload. Reeves recovered, though he’s still on the injured reserve list. Dowling needed a transplant. It was initially successful, but within a few weeks he died of cardiac arrest.
