On this day in vegan history · August 2, 1970
Kevin Smith Is Born in Red Bank
Decades before he became vegan cinema's most unlikely spokesman, the Clerks director was just a kid in Red Bank, New Jersey, who'd one day need a heart attack to change his diet.
The facts
- Born
- August 2, 1970, Red Bank, New Jersey
- Heart attack
- February 25, 2018, after a show at the Alex Theatre, Glendale, California
- Cause
- Total blockage of the left anterior descending artery
- After
- Adopted a vegan diet and became a paid Weight Watchers spokesperson
Kevin Patrick Smith was born August 2, 1970, in Red Bank, New Jersey, and grew up to build an indie-film career on convenience-store slackers and comic-book banter, not clean living. That changed on February 25, 2018, when he suffered a severe heart attack after a stand-up show at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California, caused by a total blockage of his left anterior descending artery, the vessel cardiologists call the widowmaker for a reason. His doctor told him to lose another 50 pounds. Smith adopted a vegan diet, joined Weight Watchers, and later became a paid spokesperson for the brand, turning a near-fatal cardiac event into a public, ongoing case for eating differently.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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Smith suffered a severe heart attack caused by a total blockage of the left anterior descending artery.
Wikipedia, "Kevin Smith"
Source: Wikipedia
Why it still matters
A famous, unglamorous near-death forced a diet change puts a human face on vegan eating that no campaign can manufacture: not an ethical conversion, just a director who didn't want a second one of those.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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