British anti-smoking guru dies at 72 of lung cancer

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday November 29, 2006

London/Madrid- Allen Carr, the British anti-smoking guru who helped millions of smokers to kick the habit has died from lung cancer, aged 72, his spokeswoman said Wednesday. Carr, who is from London, was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer this summer. He died at his home near Malaga, southern Spain.

Carr set up a global network of 70 clinics in 30 countries which treated 45,000 people last year. Altogether, he is estimated to have helped more than 10 million smokers to give up.

His Easyway method focussed on fighting the fear of possible withdrawal symptoms as much as the addiction itself.

Carr himself got through 100 cigarettes a day before he gave up in the early 1980's.

"Since I smoked my final cigarette, 23 years ago, I have been the happiest man in the world. I still feel the same way today," he said after his diagnosis.

Carr's books and DVD's about the Easyway method, have become international bestsellers.

His first book, Allen Carr's Easyway To Stop Smoking, has sold more than seven million copies.

TV personalities, celebrities and multi-millionaires, including Ruby Wax, Virgin Atlantic boss Richard Branson and actor Anthony Hopkins were among the millions who followed his method.

When diagnosed with cancer, Carr said he saw his illness as a way to encourage more people to quit.

His spokesman said at the time it was possible that the years he spent curing smokers in smoke-filled sessions at his clinics might have contributed to the illness.

"He is certain that if he did not quit, he would have been dead 20 years ago."

Carr started his career as a qualified accountant in 1958. But his cigarette addiction drove him to despair, leading him to set up the first clinic in London in 1983.

"The fact that a former 100-a-day smoker, having quit in his middle age, lived to the ripe old age of 72 is a tremendous message to all smokers," John Dicey, worldwide director of Allen Carr's Easyway, said Wednesday.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency