SARANAC LAKE - A nationally known anti-smoking activist who visited Tupper Lake Middle-High School will be visiting Saranac Lake High School later this week to speak about the dangers of smoking.
Rick Stoddard will be at SLHS from 1 to 2 p.m. on Thursday. He will also be at Brushton-Moira Central School from 9 to 10 a.m. the same day.
Stoddard, who lives in Massachusetts, recorded a series of public service announcements that played on national television after his wife, Marie, died of lung cancer eight years ago at age 46. The first announcement played in Massachusetts in May 2000 and debuted for a national audience during the 2001 Super Bowl. Stoddard began the ad by saying, "I guess I never thought of 23 as middle-aged."
Since then, he has started traveling to schools around the country, talking to students about the health risks of smoking and the advertising practices of the tobacco industry.
His visit is being organized by Reality Check of Franklin County, a youth-led anti-tobacco movement that focuses on the tobacco industry's marketing tactics.