Chicago, Apr 22: An American man, who wrote a letter to US President Barack Obama about the dangers of smoking, was surprised to receive a reply from him.

Michael Powers, 54, whose dad had passed away 30 years back, wrote to Obama urging him to give up smoking, so that he could be there for his daughters.

When Powers, whose family has Waukegan roots, received the reply he could not believe it.

“When I first got it, I thought, ‘Hey, he wrote this’,” the Chicago Sun Times quoted him as saying.

As per the New York Times, his note to the White House was one of 10 letters from ordinary Americans to be selected for Obama''s daily reading.

Powers told Obama his dad, Benjamin, smoked three packs of cigarettes a day, and later died of lung, throat and bone cancer.

He enclosed a photo of his dad, which was returned in a sealed plastic bag with Obama''s reply. (ANI)