Promise Me How a Sisters Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer, Nancy G. Brinker, Joni Rodgers. (Hardcover 0307718123) Used Book available for Swap

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Promise Me How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer
Author: Nancy G. Brinker, Joni Rodgers

—    Suzy and Nancy Goodman were more than sisters. They were best friends, confidantes, and partners in the grand adventure of life. For three decades, nothing could separate them. Not college, not marriage, not miles. Then Suzy got sick. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1977; three agonizing years later, at thirty-six, she died. — It wa...  more »sn’t supposed to be this way. The Goodman girls were raised in postwar Peoria, Illinois, by parents who believed that small acts of charity could change the world. Suzy was the big sister?the homecoming queen with an infectious enthusiasm and a generous heart. Nancy was the little sister?the tomboy with an outsized sense of justice who wanted to right all wrongs. The sisters shared makeup tips, dating secrets, plans for glamorous fantasy careers. They spent one memorable summer in Europe discovering a big world far from Peoria. They imagined a long life together?one in which they’d grow old together surrounded by children and grandchildren.

Suzy’s diagnosis shattered that dream.

   In 1977, breast cancer was still shrouded in stigma and shame. Nobody talked about early detection and mammograms. Nobody could even say the words “breast” and “cancer” together in polite company, let alone on television news broadcasts. With Nancy at her side, Suzy endured the many indignities of cancer treatment, from the grim, soul-killing waiting rooms to the mistakes of well-meaning but misinformed doctors. That’s when Suzy began to ask Nancy to promise. To promise to end the silence. To promise to raise money for scientific research. To promise to one day cure breast cancer for good. Big, shoot-for-the-moon promises that Nancy never dreamed she could fulfill. But she promised because this was her beloved sister.

I promise, Suzy. . . . Even if it takes the rest of my life.

   Suzy’s death?both shocking and senseless?created a deep pain in Nancy that never fully went away. But she soon found a useful outlet for her grief and outrage. Armed only with a shoebox filled with the names of potential donors, Nancy put her formidable fund-raising talents to work and quickly discovered a groundswell of grassroots support. She was aided in her mission by the loving tutelage of her husband, restaurant magnate Norman Brinker, whose dynamic approach to entrepreneurship became Nancy’s model for running her foundation. Her account of how she and Norman met, fell in love, and managed to achieve the elusive “true marriage of equals” is one of the great grown-up love stories among recent memoirs.

   Nancy’s mission to change the way the world talked about and treated breast cancer took on added urgency when she was herself diagnosed with the disease in 1984, a terrifying chapter in her life that she had long feared. Unlike her sister, Nancy survived and went on to make Susan G. Komen for the Cure into the most influential health charity in the country and arguably the world. A pioneering force in cause-related marketing, SGK turned the pink ribbon into a symbol of hope everywhere. Each year, millions of people worldwide take part in SGK Race for the Cure events. And thanks to the more than $1.5 billion spent by SGK for cutting-edge research and community programs, a breast cancer diagnosis today is no longer a death sentence. In fact, in the time since Suzy’s death, the five-year survival rate for breast cancer has risen from 74 percent to 98 percent.

   Promise Me is a deeply moving story of family and sisterhood, the dramatic “30,000-foot view” of the democratization of a disease, and a soaring affirmative to the question: Can one person truly make a difference?

ISBN-13: 9780307718129
ISBN-10: 0307718123
Publication Date: 9/14/2010
Pages: 304
Rating:

Currently 3.7/5 Stars.

3.7 stars, based on 9 ratings

Publisher: Broadway
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio CD
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Nancy A. (Chocoholic) reviewed Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer on 1/27/2012 + 291 more book reviews

I received this book from a GoodReads drawing and I put off reading it for some time because I was afraid that it would be a "dry" or otherwise boring read. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised to read this. This inspirational book is part biography, part how to start a cancer foundation. Susan G. Komen was Nancy Brinker's older sister who died far too young of breast cancer in a time of history when breast cancer was simply not talked about. Inspired by her sister's last words to her, Nancy kept her promise and created the Susan G. Komen for the cure foundation from scratch. Of course it's not always smooth sailing; there's always a few bumps in the road. Interspersed with Nancy's biographical story are brief chapters about the early days of her breast cancer foundation or mini-bios of people affected by breast cancer. Overall, a very inspiring and well-written story that held my interest quite well for all 350 pages.

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Kristin D. (kdurham2813) reviewed Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer on 1/5/2011 + 753 more book reviews

Wow, what a great book, by great I mean - I couldn't put it down, I laughed and cried, and I had to email my closet family and friends to share it immediately.

A fresh story on the makings of a huge organization that has changed the landscape of breast cancer and influenced decisions makers from citizens in their home to lawmakers in Washington, D.C. I have participated in SGK events, but I had no idea the trials that Brinker endured while starting this non-profit. She has fought breast cancer herself - who would have been able to do that while encouraging women to be aware of this devastating disease.

As to whom I would recommend - absolutely anyone. This was a great read that made me want to support this organization even more. I loved hearing this story and finishing it on the second day of 2011 made me motivated to make a resolution to be more involved in charity with this new year.

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