Lawrence Ingrassia is joined by Arnold Levine to discuss his memoir "A Fatal Inheritance How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery." Book Signing to follow.
About the Book (from the publisher):
Weaving his own moving family story with a sweeping history of cancer research, Lawrence Ingrassia delivers an intimate, gripping tale that sits at the intersection of memoir and medical thriller
Ingrassia lost his mother, two sisters, brother, and nephew to cancer—different cancers developing at different points throughout their lives. And while highly unusual, his family is not the only one to wonder whether their heartbreak is the result of unbelievable bad luck, or if there might be another explanation.
Through meticulous research and riveting storytelling, Ingrassia takes us from the 1960s—when Dr. Frederick Pei Li and Dr. Joseph Fraumeni Jr. first met, not yet knowing that they would help make a groundbreaking discovery that would affect cancer patients for decades to come—to present day, as Ingrassia and countless others continue to unpack and build upon Li and Fraumeni’s initial discoveries, and to understand what this means for their families.
In the face of seemingly unbearable loss, Ingrassia holds onto hope. He urges us to “fight like Charlie,” his nephew who battled cancer his entire life starting with a rare tumor in his cheek at the age of two—and to look toward the future, as gene sequencing, screening protocols, CRISPR gene editing, and other developing technologies may continue to extend lifespans and perhaps, one day, even offer cures.
About the Author:
Lawrence Ingrassia is an award-winning journalist, now retired, having worked as a senior editor at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times. His latest book, "A Fatal Inheritance: How a Family Misfortune Revealed a Deadly Medical Mystery," is one of 10 books on the longlist for the prestigious National Book Critics Circle Award for 2024 nonfiction, and was selected for a number of best-of-the-year lists: NPR's Books We Love of 2024; Amazon's Best Nonfiction Books of 2024; Kirkus Review's Best Nonfiction; and BookPage Best Audiobooks of 2024.
.
About the Moderator:
Arnold Levine, Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J., is a renowned scientist who has won numerous awards for his groundbreaking research, including work on cancer genetics that helped deepen the understanding of hereditary syndromes.
.
.
