Events & Reunions

Sponsored by:

Tufts Alumni San Francisco

Location: Samovar Tea Lounge
498 Sanchez Street
San Francisco, CA
(Look for us in Samovar's back room) | See Map

When: Sunday, January 30, 2011, 10:30 am (iCal)

Description

The San Francisco Tufts Alliance invites you to join our book club. Our next book is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

Review

Publishers Weekly writes: "This multilayered story about faith, science, journalism, and grace...is also a tale of medical wonders and medical arrogance, racism, poverty and the bond that grows, sometimes painfully, between two very different women – Skloot and Deborah Lacks – sharing an obsession to learn about Deborah's mother, Henrietta, and her magical, immortal cells. Henrietta Lacks was a 31-year-old black mother of five in Baltimore when she died of cervical cancer in 1951. Without her knowledge, doctors treating her at Johns Hopkins took tissue samples from her cervix for research. They spawned the first viable, indeed miraculously productive, cell line – known as HeLa. These cells have aided in medical discoveries from the polio vaccine to AIDS treatments. What Skloot so poignantly portrays is the devastating impact Henrietta's death and the eventual importance of her cells had on her husband and children. ... Skloot tells a rich, resonant tale of modern science, the wonders it can perform and how easily it can exploit society's most vulnerable people."

Whether you've already read this intriguing book or it's new to you, we would love for you to join our conversation. Please register for this event and start reading! Also, you can share your interest in this book club and ideas for future reads with Bobbie at bobbie.peyton@gmail.com.

Directions

Muni: It's one block west of the J-Church stop on 18th Street.
BART: Get off at 16th Street/Mission Station in San Francisco. Walk west on 16th for five blocks, then south on Sanchez for two blocks.
Driving: There's on-street parking throughout the Mission and Castro...if you can find an open space.

The San Francisco Tufts Alliance is a chapter of the Tufts University Alumni Association, providing a "home away from home" for our undergraduate and graduate alumni and their families. Through social activities, intellectual events, and active global citizenship, we aim to create a connection with our Bay Area community while furthering the Tufts mission and having fun!

RSVP

Please email SFTA steering committee member Bobbie Peyton, G07, at bobbie.peyton@gmail.com and include your name, school/class year, and names of any guests. You can also register on our Facebook group.

Contact

Bobbie Peyton, G07, at bobbie.peyton@gmail.com.