Heart attack kills McDonalds CEO

[fresco]

McDonalds CEO Jim Cataloupo dropped dead of a heart attack at the fast food corporation's annual gathering for owners and operators in Orlando, Florida. He was 60.

http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2004/04/19/rtr1336111.html

[Gifted Gourmet]

McDonalds CEO Jim Cataloupo dropped dead of a heart attack at the fast food corporation's annual gathering for owners and operators in Orlando, Florida. He was 60.

http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2004/04/19/rtr1336111.html

This ought to bring out all of the shadenfreude people, yet once again ...

very sad .... should be merged with today's thread on the French love of McDonald's link here ...

[tommy]

i hope people don't start getting on their soapboxes suggesting that this guy ate mcdonalds every day. unless, of course, they know that to be fact.

who was that famous runner who dropped dead of a heart attack while running? i forget his name. that death was most likely unrelated to mcdonalds. although i don't know that to be fact.

[Busboy]

Jim Fixx was the runner.

Don't know what this guy ate, but years ago Ray Kroc showed up for lunch at The Sans Souci here in Washington. The Sans Souci was one of those traditional French places, tableside service and so on, made famous during the Kennedy administration as a hangout for the young, internationally sophisto types JFK supposedly brought to town. (Mary Tyler Moore fans may recall that this is where Lou Grant went to hang out with his old buddies, including Gerald Ford, in one episode.) They fought tooth and nail to prevent McDonalds from opening next door and, of course, lost. So, when the main course was set to arrive, the maitre d' wheeled up the service cart and lifted the cover to reveal...two Big Macs. Mr. Kroc allegedly smiled gracefully and asked, instead, for his original order, which was delivered forthwith.

[TrishCT]

i hope people don't start getting on their soapboxes suggesting that this guy ate mcdonalds every day. unless, of course, they know that to be fact.

Well... it couldda been his last big mac attack.

Just needed to say that.

[JPW]

who was that famous runner who dropped dead of a heart attack while running? i forget his name. that death was most likely unrelated to mcdonalds. although i don't know that to be fact.

Jim Fixx's family had a history of heart problems (incredible cholesterol build-ups). I'll be a little off on the ages here, but his granddad was only about 35 when he died, his father was about the same age. For Fixx to make it to 52 with the DNA against him was rather miraculous -- and most likely a tribute to his extremely strong (in all other senses) cardio-vascular system.

Not getting on a soapbox, but the way and location in which Mr. Cataloupo passed is extremely ironic.

[fresco]

What is unfortunate is that he had retired a while ago after a long career at McDs and was persuaded to head up a turnaround effort when the corporation was not doing well at all.

[tommy]

... location in which Mr. Cataloupo passed is extremely ironic.

i'll give you that much.

[Gifted Gourmet]

He was very much into fitness, CNBC reports today, and probably had something entirely different happening inside his arteries .... but it will, of course, be blamed upon all things associated with their products ....

[PopsicleToze]

IMHO it's very sad to see anyone making jokes or ironic suggestions when someone/ANYone passes away. I don't know of many CEOs who eat too many McDonald's meals. I hope we can show more respect to the dead than that!

Rhonda

P.S. Edited to Add

With all of the bacon lovers on this board (moi included), I shudder to think what some people will say when something happens to us.

Edited April 19, 2004 by NolaFoodie (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

NolaFoodie,

It is the very irony of the story that fascinates the general public because it follows far too close upon the heels of the media frenzy surrounding the "dropping of supersizing" stories and the like ...

so, one's first impression is that clearly there is a connection between the "hype" and the individual .... clearly, time and an autopsy will be a more reliable resource than these initial hysteria-laden reports ....

[John Whiting]

I doubt if fast food magnates are any more prone to eat their own products than are junk jewelers to wear their own baubles or steel-and-concrete architects to live in their own high-rise slums.

[PopsicleToze]

I know, and one of the reasons I enjoy lurking her a lot (and posting a little) is everyone's keen sense of humor and sharp wit. I just don't think it should be directed to someone who just passed away.

Rhonda

[TrishCT]

I know, and one of the reasons I enjoy lurking her a lot (and posting a little) is everyone's keen sense of humor and sharp wit. I just don't think it should be directed to someone who just passed away.

Rhonda

It's not funny that McD's as a food purveyor has polluted the bodies of many people (i.e. lying about animal fat used in their fries, amount of high sat fat products, etc...) It is also not funny that McD's as a corporation has driven good local mom and pop food joints out of business. Guess maybe there really isn't anything funny here after all.

[John Whiting]

I just don't think it should be directed to someone who just passed away.

Thou wretched, rash intruding fool, farewell!

I took thee for thy better.

Well, there goes Shakespeare out the window . . .

[PopsicleToze]

I just don't think it should be directed to someone who just passed away.

Thou wretched, rash intruding fool, farewell!

I took thee for thy better.

Well, there goes Shakespeare out the window . . .

Point well taken! I'll shut up now and let you continue

[clothier]

Don't you think there is humor everywhere? Even in death?

When you die, would you rather have people crying because you are dead, or happy because they knew you?

[tommy]

When you die, would you rather have people crying because you are dead, or happy because they knew you?

or making accusations about you.

[Al_Dente]

Don't you think there is humor everywhere? Even in death?

Absolutely.

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying."

Woody Allen

[clothier]

boy, I'd love to hear that story.

[Gifted Gourmet]

When you die, would you rather have people crying because you are dead, or happy because they knew you?

HBO has made a small fortune off death and not all of it is exactly serious ...

and your statement about crying versus happy? aren't the two choices possibly related? Can't one cry in pain and rejoice in past happy times at the very same moment??

[lala]

Hmmm...you all have good points. MickeyD's is as responsible as anyone for obesity, heart attacks, etc...bearing in mind the fact that what each of us eats is ultimately our own personal responsibility (yes, I eat burgers on occasion, too...). But, having lost my mother at age 62 last year brings home the point that age 60 is incredibly young to die in this day and age. Besides whatever may be said in the press, or the irony of the situation, I feel sorry for his family, losing a loved one who was relatively young.

Edited April 19, 2004 by lala (log)

[John Whiting]

When you die, would you rather have people crying because you are dead, or happy because they knew you?

I expect them to be happy because I'm dead!

[Mabelline]

Death is the start of the journey...not the end. This gentleman's family has my sympathies. But as the butt of a joke...I gotta say...That's past humor.

[tommy]

where are these "jokes" that everyone's referring to?