Menu
Second-hand smoke silences another voice
Saturday nights were an ordeal for those of us who preferred Elvis Presley or the Beatles to big-band music.
If Dad and Mom kept control of the channel knob on the family's single black-and-white TV, it was more than likely tuned to ABC where "The Lawrence Welk Show," delivered a frothy selection of "champagne music."
Usually, at some point in the show, Irish tenor Joe Feeney performed his version of "Danny Boy" or some other standard.
Many Nebraskans may not have realized that Feeney was one of their own, born to an Irish-American family in Grand Island and singing in the church choir
After he won several singing contests at the University of Nebraska, a tape of his singing landed him a guest spot on the Lawrence Welk Show in 1956, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Feeney sang for five presidents at the White House and for Pope Paul VI in 1975 at the Vatican, as well as for 25 years on the Welk show and venues from Carnegie Hall to Disneyland. His performances continue to entertain on PBS rebroadcasts.
Despite the clean-cut nature of his music, although Feeney himself never smoked, he often found himself performing in smoky casinos and nightclubs.
His family says that finally caught up with him April 16, when he died of emphysema at a hospice in Carlsbad, Calif.
This year, the Nebraska legislature passed LB395, which will ban smoking in restaurants and bars after June 1, 2009.
The argument can be made that the lawmakers' action further eroded the personal freedom of those who enjoy a cigar or cigarette after a fine meal out or while having a drink at a bar.
There's no question, however, that LB395 will benefit people like Joe Feeney.