Every family has a problem. Perhaps it was crazy Aunt Maudie or the diabetes that has run through more than just an immediate family member. On Friday, February 5, buds Lucy Billingsley and Caren Kline spread the word that their pal Theodore “Theo” Ross had published “A Cancer In The Family” by having a hundred guests in for a book signing.
It was a topic close to both Lucy and Caren. Just that week both women had been touched by the well-being of family members.
Lucy had lost her brother Howard Crow to years of suffering from a disease that had left him in a state requiring round-the-clock assistance.
Caren had zoomed to Florida upon learning that her mother Bettye Whiteman had fallen. No sooner had Caren thought all was well than she learned that Bettye had once again been hospitalized. Luckily for Caren and Bettye, sister Dale Pinto had been able to fly Bettye back home to New York and care.
Theo’s book addresses the very issue of the mystery of genetics and how it impacts all those family members.
After signing mountains of books in the dining room, Theo was in the living room telling guests like Barbara and Steve Durham, Pam Busbee, Roslyn Dawson Thompson, Kathleen Gibson, Lynn and Allan McBee and Nancy Gopez how her research into the world of genetics had resulted in life-changing developments in how she handled her own life.
One question came from publishing agent Jan Miller, who wondered if such genetic investigation would confirm her “absolute” belief that she is African America.
Theo’s “A Cancer In the Family” has been such a hit, a sequel is already in the works. She revealed the dedication in the sequel is to Lucy and husband Henry Billingsley and Caren and husband Pete Kline.