Heart Trouble

The image is part of American lore: A graying executive, overworked and overwhelmed, drops face down in the sidewalk surge of expensive shoes and pin-striped suits, dead of a heart attack. Such things happen far too often. But should the man's personality be blamed for his passing? Is he a victim of "Type A" behavior? The idea that aggressive, impatient people work themselves into heart attacks has long been accepted by the public. But it's never been universally endorsed by heart specialists.

Horton Foote's dramas, seldom seen in these parts, get an unveiling this month with two premieres. There's the world premiere of "Getting Frankie Married--and Afterwards" at South Coast Repertory this weekend, and last Friday the Newport Theatre Arts Center staged "The Young Man From Atlanta" in Orange County for the first time. Let's hope "Getting Frankie Married" leaves a bigger Foote-print. "Young Man From Atlanta," despite winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1995, is disappointing.

Defense Secretary Les Aspin's physicians said Wednesday that the coughing spells he suffered before being hospitalized late Tuesday were caused by a worsening heart problem and they said that they plan to implant a pacemaker today to prevent further deterioration. At a press conference, Aspin's doctors said that a new evaluation showed his condition has now reached the point where even minor difficulties "can make him sick enough to wind up in the hospital."

Garry Campbell says he was NOT trying to steal that bright yellow Ventura County fire engine in front of his house just after midnight Tuesday in Thousand Oaks. He just wanted to move it because its idling motor was keeping his four children awake, he said. As Campbell threatened Tuesday to sue the Sheriff's Department for falsely accusing him of vehicle theft, authorities argued that his drive of less than 100 yards in the county's fire engine endangered the life of a heart-attack victim.

Massimo Troisi was such a popular comic actor in his native Italy that he could barely walk down a street in Rome without getting mobbed. Still, he wanted fame well beyond his country's shores. "The Postman" (Il Postino), in which he stars, cost $3 million to make and has so far made $13 million in Italy, where it has been in theaters since October. It was picked up by Miramax after drawing raves at the Toronto Film Festival, and opens today on 100 screens nationwide.

Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews, one of 16 players in major league history to hit 500 home runs, has been hospitalized in La Jolla since Sunday because of a heart problem. "I'm sure he'll come out of this, I'm very hopeful he's going to be just fine," Mathews' wife, Judy, said Thursday from the family home in Del Mar. Judy Mathews said she took her 68-year-old husband to the emergency room Sunday at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla after he had trouble breathing.

Jim Dietz, a self-admitted workaholic as coach/caretaker for the baseball program at San Diego State, was diagnosed Tuesday as having an irregular heartbeat, his wife said. Carol Dietz said more tests are scheduled for today and might help determine the severity of the problem. Dietz, 51, missed Tuesday's game against the University of San Diego--a 7-2 Aztec victory--and has been told by his doctor to take it easy for a while.

Northern Nevada officials say there's a lesson here of a Howard Hughes ilk: You can never judge a person's worth by the kind of life he or she leads. Authorities in Carson City recently made an astounding discovery in the home of a local recluse whose body was found in his residence. Walter Samaszko Jr. had left only $200 in his bank account. But hidden throughout the house were other treasures - including gold bars and coins valued at $7 million. “You never anticipate running into anything like this,” Carson City Clerk-Recorder Alan Glover told the Los Angeles Times.

At various times in his 67 years, Art Donovan has used the holiday season to give thanks for Spam, the old days in the Bronx, salami, offensive linemen who couldn't block, beer by the case, NFL Films, football on real grass, David Letterman, Italian food, life after 60 and the fact that he got to live in America, because, as he once put it, his ancestors in Ireland didn't have anything to eat. The old Baltimore Colt has whittled his list considerably this year, though.

People who are socially isolated are more likely to die prematurely, regardless of their underlying health issues, according to a study of the elderly British population. The findings, published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that when mental and physical health conditions were factored out, the lack of social contact continued to lead to early death among 6,500 men and women tracked over a seven-year period. "They're dying of the usual causes, but isolation has a strong influence," said study author Andrew Steptoe, an epidemiologist at University College London.