This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, you must register here or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org

with author Judith Pearson and Julia Rowland, PhD

In 1971, the world’s most feared disease might suddenly be survivable. Yet millions with a cancer history remained in the shadows. Fifty years later, From Shadows to Life: A Biography of the Cancer Survivorship Movement tells the story of the movement that changed everything. Regardless of whether you’ve read the book, you’ll truly enjoy this conversation with the author, Judith Pearson and Dr. Julia Rowland.

About Judith Pearson

Judy Pearson’s career began in a tree: a wonderful old maple in her parents’ backyard, with a perfect branch on which to sit and write. Now hundreds of thousands of words later, this Michigan native’s voice is still inspiring! She is a best-selling author, an accomplished presenter, and a graduate of Michigan State University. But her favorite title is “story teller.”

Always a fan of history, Judy’s first books told of ordinary people who became extraordinary heroes during World War II. The first, Belly of the Beast: A POW’s True Story of Faith, Courage and Survival, recounts the saga of an American naval corpsman taken prisoner in the Philippines at the outset of the war in the Pacific.

Next came The Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America’s Greatest Female Spy, the first American book to tell the story of the amazing Virginia Hall. Judy traveled to Britain and France for research. Her fluency in French enabled her to interview men who had been a part of Virginia’s espionage circuit. It is not only a best-seller, but has been purchased for a movie.

A diagnosis of Triple Negative Breast Cancer interrupted Judy’s career as an author, although she created an anthology of the articles and blogs she wrote during her cancer experience. It’s Just Hair: 20 Essential Life Lessons won a 2012 International Book Award. Cancer also led Judy to found A 2nd Act, a nonprofit that supports and celebrates women survivors of all cancers who are giving back to the greater good.

Believing there is always treasure in life’s wreckage, Judy’s treasure became the topic of her next book. From Shadows to Life: A Biography of the Cancer Survivorship Movement has already received an impressive and positive reaction from survivors, the medical community, and the public at large.

Honored in Washington, DC, by the American Association of Cancer Research and featured in their National Cancer Research Progress Report, Judy is former member of the Society of Integrative Oncology and the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, a founding board member of Arizona Women for the Arts, a member of the American Association for University Women, and a past board member of the Michigan State University Alumni Association. Named one of Chicago’s Most Inspirational Women by Chicago Magazine, she was selected as a finalist for the Arizona Healthcare Leadership Awards in 2018 and named a Phoenix Healthcare Hero that same year.

Judy was named one of Chicago’s Most Inspirational Women, was selected as a finalist for the Arizona Healthcare Leadership Awards and named a Phoenix Healthcare Hero the same year.

Judy and her husband, David, live at the base of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, loving life and making one another laugh every day.