Anna & Daniel

*Update - The Enquirer and Star magazine are "reporting" that the cause of death was an overdose of sleeping medication. Smith also had a blood infection caused by an unsterile needle which would have killed her had the overdose not. There was more coverage on the network news channels regarding Anna Nicole Smith than there was any other worldwide issue (including the Iraq War) during the week following her death. Yes, we have lost too many great talents due to fast living, including River Phoenix, John Belushi, Kurt Cobain, Jerry Garcia, James Dean and Anna Nicole's idol, Marilyn Monroe. While so many talking heads complain that we shouldn't be paying so much attention to Smith and never should we compare her to Monroe, the story continues to be everywhere. Many argue that Monroe was an actress therefore much more talented than Smith, but 40 years later we all remember her because she had affairs with the Kennedy brothers and died at a young age. Most of you reading this post think Marilyn Monroe is just a black and white poster that hangs in the basement of your grandfather's house. Let us not forget that Monroe appeared nude in the very first issue of Playboy magazine. (Hugh Hefner will be buried in the crypt next to Monroe.) Anna, of course, emulated Monroe but was completely of this generation. Her Guess Jeans campaign showed us her beauty, her Playboy career made her a worldwide superstar, her marriage to an octogenarian made her a late night talk show punchline, her reality show made us love her. Even before the amazing weight loss and TrimSpa campaign, Anna was a part of American culture and we were rooting for her every step of the way. This girl took a miserable life and turned it into something. That's a lot more than we can say for most of the people in the public eye. Smith took the piece of crap hand she was dealt and turned it into a royal flush for her family and her son. So yes, the results of her autopsy will be announced this Monday morning in Florida, but the above video makes it very clear how she lived and why she died.