Portland observer., May 16, 2012, Page 13, Image 13

May 16. 2012
Page 13
w w w .T h e C a n c e rY o u C a n P re v e n t.o rg
ENEEREAINMENE
I got screened
for colorectal cancer.
I ind out whv
Tin talking $
about it
Engaging with Race and Medical Ethics
Best-selling
author comes
home for
‘PCC Reads’
A c c la im e d s c ie n c e a u th o r
R ebecca Skloot, w ho penned the
N ew Y ork T im es best seller, "The
Im m ortal Life o f H enrietta Lacks,"
is com ing to P ortland C om m unity
C ollege for its PC C R eads Program .
Skloot, one o f 50 PC C D iam ond
A lum s honored during the college's
50th anniversary, will talk at 6 p.m .,
T hursday, M ay 17, at the Slavic
C hurch E m m anuel, 2025 S.E. 82nd
A ve, next door to PC C 's Southeast
C enter. T he engagem ent is open
and free to the public.
”77ie Im m ortal Life o f H enrietta
Lacks," is Skloot's debut book and
to o k m ore than a decade to re ­
search. It instantly becam e a N ew
Y ork Tim es best seller in hardcover,
paperback and electronic editions.
It was nam ed The Best Book o f 2010
by A m azon.com and a B arnes and
N oble D iscover G reat N ew W riters
P ick
H er visit to PCC m arks a return
hom e to w here she w ent to school
and got the idea for the book. In 1988,
the 16-year-old Skloot was a student
at the M etropolitan Learning C enter
(she dropped out o f Lincoln High
School her freshm an year) and de­
cided to take D on Defier's college-
lev el scien ce class at the PC C
Sylvania Cam pus. D uring that class,
he lectured about H eLa cells and
attached a nam e to the cells, spark­
ing Skloot's curiosity.
"She w as such a serious student
and a good student, and she w as so
sincere," D efier said. "W hat's h ap ­
pened to R ebecca is really phenom ­
enal."
A s a result o f that class, the idea
Sero ?cfc
SBCCA
Gerding Theater at the Arm ory
128 N W Eleventh Avenue
503.445.3700
pcs.org
Best-selling author Rebecca Skloot is coming home for Portland
Community college’s PCC Reads Program. Her book ‘The Immor­
tal Life of Henrietta Lacks,' engages in race and social justice
issues.
for the book w as bom .
T h e b o o k te lls th e sto ry o f a
p o o r S o u th e rn to b a c c o fa rm e r
H e n rie tta L a c k s, w h o m s c ie n tists
k n o w as H eL a. In 1951, H e n rie tta
d e v e lo p e d a stra n g e ly a g g re ssiv e
c a n c e r , a n d d o c to rs at J o h n s
H o p k in s H o sp ita l to o k a tissu e
sam p le w ith o u t h e r k n o w le d g e .
S h e d ie d w ith o u t k n o w in g th a t
h e r cells w o u ld b eco m e im m o rtal-
-th e first to g ro w an d su rv iv e in ­
d e fin ite ly in c u ltu re . T h e c e lls
b e c a m e o f th e m o st im p o rta n t
THE LAW OFFICES OF
Patrick John Sweeney, PC.
Patrick John Sweeney
Attorney at Law
1549 SE Ladd
Portland, Oregon
Portland:
Hillsoboro:
Facsimile:
Email:
----- ''IDENCE
Cancer Center
(503) 244-2080
(503) 244-2081
(503) 244-2084
Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com
tools in m ed icin e and are still alive
to d a y , th o u g h she has b een d ead
fo r m o re th an six ty y e ars.
H eL a cells w ere vital for d ev el­
oping the polio vaccine; u n cov­
ered secrets o f cancer, viruses, and
the e ffe cts o f th e ato m bo m b ;
helped lead to im portant advances
like in vitro fertilization, cloning,
and gene m apping; and have been
b ought and sold by the billions. Yet
H enrietta L acks, a black w om an
rem ain ed virtually unknow n, b u r­
ied in an unm arked grave.
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