Betty Rollin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Betty Rollin (b.January 3, 1936 in New York City), is a former NBC News correspondent who wrote about her struggle with cancer in her most famous book, First, You Cry.

Betty Rollin was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1975, and again in 1984, each time losing a breast to the disease. Betty's battle with cancer was followed and reported on for public awareness and to give encouragement to others facing this increasingly common disease. However, although Betty lost both of her breasts to cancer, and "death is never far" from her mind, she appears to be in complete remission.

At around the same time, her mother, Ida, was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. Betty helped her mother, Ida, end her life in 1983. One of Betty's friends told her of a doctor in Europe who supported voluntary euthanasia, whom she contacted and was able to obtain the needed pills. These actions aroused the ire of many conservatives as well as the orthodoxly religious, who view(ed) them as a form of eugenics.

Betty Rollin is the author of 5 other books, including Last Wish. She and her husband, Dr. Harold Edwards, a mathematician, live in Manhattan (NY). They have no children.