Via Zoom.  Register HERE.

Jewish Literary Voices: A Federation Series in collaboration with The Jewish Book Council

There was a time when women’s health was marginalized. There was a time when breast cancer wasn’t discussed. There was a time when October wasn’t pink. But three women—Shirley Temple Black, Rose Kushner, and Evelyn Lauder—refused to be silenced. Their courage ignited a movement that forever changed the way society addresses breast cancer.

When these “radical sisters” were diagnosed, they faced a medical world rife with myths, outdated protocols, and a shocking lack of research. Breast cancer awareness was non-existent, and treatment options were limited. Yet, Shirley, Rose, and Evelyn—empowered by their own diagnoses—became trailblazing advocates for breast cancer research, early detection, and women’s health. Their efforts broke open the conversation and set the stage for a new era of breast cancer advocacy.

Orphaned at the age of ten and raised in a Yid­dish-speak­ing home, Rose Kush­n­er learned ear­ly about resilience. But in 1974, her life was cap­sized when she was diag­nosed with breast can­cer.

Two years ear­li­er, Shirley Tem­ple Black had been the first celebri­ty to coura­geous­ly dis­cuss her mas­tec­to­my. Rose was deter­mined to do more by rad­i­cal­ly chang­ing the breast can­cer land­scape, tak­ing on America’s anti­quat­ed med­ical sys­tem and dis­in­ter­est­ed politi­cians. From her deathbed, she valiant­ly shep­herd­ed leg­is­la­tion for insur­ance cov­er­age of mam­mo­grams and breast recon­struc­tion.

Eve­lyn Laud­er picked up the cause after being diag­nosed with breast can­cer in 1988. Incensed by the lack of a com­pre­hen­sive treat­ment cen­ter, pal­try research, and lack of aware­ness for the dis­ease killing women in epi­dem­ic pro­por­tions, she employed her impres­sive address book, over­saw fundrais­ing for New York City’s Eve­lyn Laud­er Breast Cen­ter and the Breast Can­cer Research Foun­da­tion, and used her world-wide net­work of cos­met­ic coun­ters to launch the now ubiq­ui­tous pink rib­bon. 

Rad­i­cal Sis­ters high­lights these three women whose courage sparked a move­ment that trans­formed society’s approach to breast cancer.

Judith Pearson is a best-selling author, an accomplished presenter, and a graduate of Michigan State University.  But her favorite role is “story teller,” resulting in six biographies, including a best-seller and two award-winners.  A diagnosis of Triple Negative Breast Cancer briefly interrupted Judy’s career as an author. B

Purchase the book HERE and a portion of the proceeds will be donated back to a local independent bookstore in the Berkshires.

Jewish Book Council