I Guess We Have all Heard Of J. M. Barrie,

if not the author at least his creation, Peter Pan,

cover illustration found here, but even Barrie fans may not be aware of one of his earlier works, before he conceived of Peter Pan, J. M. Barrie decided it was time to grow up and quit smoking. He justifies this decision in My Lady Nicotine: A Study in Smoke (originally published in 1890), Internet Archive copy here, the book begins with a common trio of arguments against substance addiction. The bodily and spiritual ruin; the economic impact; the pain caused to loved ones claimants, the volume was stitched together from pieces he had written anonymously for the St James’s Gazette, Edinburgh Evening Dispatch, and elsewhere, published to “establish his title to the contents in the face of pirates and rival claimants”, writes Denis Mackail, While it might seem quite at odds with Neverland, My Lady Nicotine, like Peter Pan and Wendy (1904), is concerned with fleeting youth, a stage of bachelor life that has the trappings of childhood in a way, as it happens it is quite a good read, hopefully nicotine and vape addicts will read a copy, but I doubt it, a little more about J. M. Barrie can be found here, and more about Peter Pan, who's pool I pass every week when I visit Duncan on Wednesdays can be found here.