Seeds of Mortality

"Today's cancer patients get advice about stress, meditation, diet, exercise, journal-writing, self-grieving, and support groups. Some believe they can cure themselves by joining in five-mile walks, wearing colored ribbons, talking "through" their pain, and contributing to public "awareness" of the disease. Trends and fashions have their place in the world of cancer: in search of strength in the face of a terrifying disease, some patients look to the promise of mysticism and depth psychology. (Michael Milken, when diagnosed, studied meditation under Deepak Chopra in hope that a cure could come "with the flick of an intention.")" "But what of those who wish to deal with cancer on their own, without sharing their private pain with strangers or proclaiming their diagnosis to all who will listen? Stewart Justman takes exception to the contemporary culture of cancer. A cancer patient himself, in Seeds of Mortality he separates the experience of cancer from the publicity. He questions whether in fact the past was an age of darkness, whether silence is necessarily harmful, whether the openness of publicity is our best personal defense against cancer." "Mr. Justman argues that cancer is a much more enigmatic disease than the publicity suggests, that to those who stand in its presence humility may still have something to say.