Steve McQueen Disease

Steve McQueen is one of the coolest human beings to ever walk the face of the earth*. It’s why we have movies like the Tao of Steve. Or why I watch Bullitt every year or so (come on, that car chase scene through San Francisco is only topped by the Blues Brothers car chase scene).

Also, mesothelioma is really hard to spell (its not even in Word’s spellchecker, but "Steve McQueen" is -- I'm not kidding, go ahead and try). And really hard to say (mesothelioma, not Steve McQueen). I’m tired of always typing it in my notes whenever we get an asbestos case.

What do these things have to do with one another?

Steve McQueen died of mesothelioma in 1980. I think you see where I’m going with this. I move that we start referring to mesothelioma as Steve McQueen Disease. If someone is going to die of a truly horrible disease, the least they can do is know that it also killed, in the words of the Drive-by Truckers, “the coolest doggone motherscratcher on the silver screen.” If Lou Gehrig gets a disease, so should Steve McQueen.

*Ed. Note - Actual coolest human being? Cary Grant.