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Unread 07-01-2018, 09:05 PM
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R. S. Gwynn R. S. Gwynn is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Beaumont, TX
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Wilbur was an athlete (mainly tennis), and Lowell was sedentary. Wilbur drank, but Lowell drank a lot, on top of the smoking, the bipolar disorder, and the medications. All three of Lowell's wives were serious drinkers as well. As far as I know, Lowell had not had any serious illnesses until he died of a heart attack. I mention this as a response to a comment about how much older Lowell looks in the video. Wilbur was also blessed with good looks, which he retained into his 70s or later (though my wife, after chatting with him, said, "He puts something on his hair"). Wilbur and his wife did have a late-life struggle with a shared Valium addiction, which he discussed openly. As far as I can tell from his biography, he didn't suffer any serious PTSD after WWII (he served in the Monte Cassino area), but his older brother Laurie had a serious post-war breakdown and spent most of his remaining (and long) life in a VA hospital. I do believe that Ellen Wilbur's story "Wind and Birds and Human Voices" is primarily about him, though this is just speculation on my part.
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