Sunny Cole--I am a diabetic.

I am a diabetic. I felt it a nuisance the first few years I carried the family curse. But the more I've aged, reality that this disease is a killer has set in.

This headline hurt to read, because Johnny was a good friend and an inspiration for me. Thursday December 11, 2008, 8:10 AM OKLAHOMA CITY — Johnny C. Quarles, who wrote more than 12 novels set in the American West, has died. He was 62. His wife, Wendy Quarles, said her husband died Sunday after suffering a stroke on Sept. 24. He also had suffered from diabetes. His books included "Fools Gold," ''Black Creek," and "The Run." In addition to his wife, he is survived by four children.

There are other writers whose lives touched mine.
Judi McCoy, Cape Charles, died 02-18-2012. Went into a diabetic coma Thanksgiving, 2011, and was hospitalized until her death.
 Judy Russell Christenberry August 5, 1944 - November 8, 2013 Lived her last years in a nursing home.
Others in our industry who had/have diabetes:
Richard Bartlett - Screenwriter
 David Broder - Pulitzer Prize-Winning Columnist (The Washington Post). Broder died of complications from diabetes on March 9, 2011 at the age of 81. In 1973, Broder won the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Watergate scandal that caused President Richard Nixon to resign from office.
 Bryan Busby - KMBC Chief Meteorologist (Kansas City, Missouri)
 Fran Carpentier - Parade Magazine Editor
 Sylvia Chase - Journalist (20/20)
 Rodolfo Garcia - AP Reporter
 Linda Goodman - Horoscope Book Author
 Jim Hamblin - California Newsman
 Ernest Hemingway - Author (For Whom the Bell Tolls; A Farewell to Arms; The Sun Also Rises) Phebe Robinson Jacobsen - Archivist who worked with Alex Haley on Roots
 Nicole Johnson - dLifeTV co-host; Miss America 1999; author and diabetes advocate.
 Ken Kesey - Novelist (One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest)
 Larry King – Talk show host
 Lyle Leverich - Biographer
 Chris Matthews – News anchor and political commentator (Hardball with Chris Matthews and The Chris Matthews Show) 
Maria Marin - International Speaker, Columnist, Author and Radio Personality
 Steve McCaffery - Canadian Author, Poet 
Bruce Andrew Peters - Award-Winning Photojournalist
 Connie Pirner - Teaching consultant for National Geographic 
Mario Puzo - Author (The Godfather)
 Anne Rice - Author (Interview With a Vampire)
 Carl Rowan - Nationally-syndicated columnist and author
 Gary Scheiner - Author, Certified diabetes educator
 H. G. Wells - Author (War of the Worlds; The Time Machine; The Invisible Man) founded the British Diabetic Association
 Laura Ingalls Wilder – Author

 Last Modified Date: May 22, 2013
 http://www.dlife.com/diabetes/famous_people/writers_reporters_editors

 This disease IS manageable! There is no cure as yet, but if you're living with diabetes, there are steps to take that give you a better quality of life. Don't become another statistic this season. Be a role model for children living with diabetes. Maybe...your own. Few things will lower glucose, but eating a heart healthy diet and exercising are both a must-do.

 Happy Holidays.
Sunny Cole.