Atkins Widow Demands Bloomberg Apology

           28 minutes ago

     NEW YORK - The widow of Dr. Robert Atkins went on national television
Friday to demand that Mayor Michael Bloomberg apologize for calling the late
diet guru "fat."

     Veronica Atkins told ABC's "Good Morning America" she was "sick and
tired of my husband being always maligned and his life's work being
trivialized."

     The mayor apparently thought he was off camera when he made the
comment while eating pasta at a photo op at a firehouse earlier this week.
Using an expletive to express doubts about the details of Atkins' death, he
said Tuesday, "I mean, the guy was fat."

     Atkins, whose diet stresses meat, eggs and cheese over pasta, bread
and vegetables, died last April at 72 from head injuries sustained from a
fall on an icy sidewalk.

     Veronica Atkins asserted her husband died from "severe trauma to his
head." His fall was unrelated to any health problems, and his arteries were
clear, she said.

     "I was very, very hurt, and I was angry" about Bloomberg's remarks,
she said.

     In an interview taped to air Sunday on WABC-TV of New York, Bloomberg
said nobody wanted to hurt either of the Atkinses. When pressed on whether
he would apologize, Bloomberg said, "Well, I don't think there is anything
to apologize for when you tell a joke. I can't go around apologizing for
every single thing."

     On Wednesday, Bloomberg told reporters that he "would never criticize
someone about their waistline." A mayoral spokesman, Jordan Barowitz,
declined to comment further Friday.

     In his firehouse remarks, Bloomberg also said the food at an Atkins
fund-raiser in the Hamptons had been "inedible" and that he had to spit an
appetizer into his napkin.

     Atkins' widow said the event's caterer was "considered to be one of
the best in the Hamptons."

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