How much did the public know?

When Gehrig gave his farewell speech, was it common knowledge among the fans
that he was suffering from a fatal illness? I'd always assumed that they knew
the gravity of the situation, giving his "luckiest man on the face of the Earth"
line a special poignancy, but some of the other posts on this board suggest
that the public wasn't fully aware that this was more than just a permanent
disability. Any baseball historians know the answer?




I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.