Liza’s Letter

People are always asking me how I did this, why I did this. The how is the easier of the two, made easy by the extraordinary patience and talent of Katherine Griffith. Strangers prior to this collaboration, Katherine sifted through 20 hours of me on tape to build the backbone of the piece and pushed me to write despite my constant refrain of “I would rather eat dirt than write, Katherine”.

Why did I do this? Ruby Lerner. Ruby Lerner has been the executive director of AIVF (the Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers), publisher of "The Independent Film and Video Monthly", and a friend of over 20 years. We had a "catch-up" dinner and I concluded my part with the casual mentioning of my recent run-in with breast cancer. Ruby's jaw dropped, but soon she was crying. From laughing. And then she decreed, "You must do this on stage." I fought. She won.

So now I'm part of the information network. Strictly cable, possibly satellite dish. But I'm in good company. This is New York. You can surf right up to Memorial Sloan-Kettering, or the Strang Cancer Prevention Center. You can call the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and race for the cure. You can be informed. You can get smart about this disease. We can't prevent it yet, but we can prevent it from killing us. Early detection. It can be a non-event. I did the disease about as well as it gets done. But as well as I did it, I want you to do it better. And that's why I'm doing this.

— Liza