Jim Lehrer was a TV NewsHour anchor, who had a heart attack and wrote an autobiography. He wrote his autobiography, A Bus of my Own, after having the heart attack, so he included it in the book. He goes over many changes that the heart attack caused for him in his life, such as dietary changes, his prioritization of his habits and hobbies, and the path that it let him take in his career.
He had to completely revamp his diet to exclude all the things that he liked to eat, since all of the things made up his old diet were incredibly bad for his health, like Mexican food, sugary food, peanut butter, and all greasy and salty things, which were his particular delights. Instead he was forced to eat vegetables, fruit, and low-fat yogurts, all of which he treats with exceptional disdain. The only food he was allowed to eat and was capable of enjoying was bread (without butter, of course). He had also been an extremely ardent smoker, smoking cigarettes at all times; driving, eating, talking, and even before going to bed. This had to stop, of course, not that he wanted to. But all of these changes in his diet benefited his health, and his relationship with his wife, seeing as she hated his smoking.
He also made far more time and put a lot more energy into less stressful hobbies of his, such as writing. He had managed to write a successful book earlier on in his career (Viva Max!), but in the years leading up to his heart attack he didn’t manage to get anything published. Realizing he wasn’t making any headway with his novels, he tried writing plays, some of which were good, like Chili Queen, but he realized that he wasn’t really all that great at it, and so went back into novels with Kick the Can, which became a 7 book series. He began to enjoy his life much more with the new focus on his writing.
He also managed to do a bit of good in the world thanks to the whole heart attack experience. He wrote a special episode of the Macneil/Lehrer Report, his news show. He discussed the symptoms of the disease, and precautionary measures that could be taken to ensure that others wouldn’t have heart attacks in the first place. Multiple people came to him afterwards, with stories of how he had saved their, or their friends’ lives. This was one of, if not his most important act in his life.
Jim Lehrer’s life was threatened by the heart attack, and there was a real possibility of his dying from it, but his life was certainly improved by his actions to prevent another one, though the lack of tasty food is a rather sad development in his life, even if it was healthier for him. He managed to help himself through the breaking of his bad habits and into good ones, only some of which I’ve mentioned here.
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