Remembrance: C. Everett Koop, Influential Surgeon General, Dies At 96

Koop was well-known for confronting high visibility and sometimes controversial public health issues.

The New York Times: C. Everett Koop, Forceful U.S. Surgeon General, Dies At 96
Dr. C. Everett Koop, who was widely regarded as the most influential surgeon general in American history and played a crucial role in changing public attitudes about smoking, died on Monday at his home in Hanover, N.H. He was 96 (Noble, 2/25).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: C. Everett Koop, Former Surgeon General, Dies At 96
Dr. Koop was the most recognized surgeon general of the 20th century. He almost always appeared in the epauleted and ribboned blue or white uniform denoting his leadership of the commissioned corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. With his mustacheless beard, deep voice and grim expression, he looked like a Civil War admiral or, as some cartoonists suggested, a refugee from a Gilbert and Sullivan musical (2/25).

Medpage Today: Obituary: C. Everett Koop, MD, 96, Iconic Surgeon General
C. Everett Koop, MD, President Ronald Reagan's iconic surgeon general who waged a public war against smoking, defended the right to life of disabled newborns, and championed knowledge over prejudice to educate the nation about AIDS, is dead at age 96. A bear of a man who insisted that public health officers wear the navy-inspired uniform of the U.S. Public Health Service, Koop elevated the image of the Surgeon General to heights not realized before or after his time. His death was announced late Monday afternoon by the Koop Institute, based at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. No cause of death was given. Koop was often in the headlines during his tenure, but few remember his first brush with media fame: the Baby Doe law (Peck, 2/25).