Rebecca Skloot: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Author Signings

Start: 05/05/2010 7:00 pm

Rebecca Skloot visits with her New York Times bestseller The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Known to scientists as HeLa, Henrietta Lacks was a poor tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors. Yet, her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though Lacks has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine, uncovering the secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb's effects. They led to important advances like in-vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping, and launched a multimillion-dollar industry. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave, and her family can't even afford health insurance. Skloot documents the extraordinary legacy of a virtually unknown woman: from the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta's dying hometown of Clover, Virginia to East Baltimore today, where her descendants live. As Skloot shows, the story of the Lacks family is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

SEATING begins one hour before the event. Lettered tickets (free with book purchase) will be called alphabetically to fill seats and will also be used to form the booksigning line. Each ticket is good for two seats. Seating opens to the general public fifteen minutes before the event, so please arrive early, as space is limited.

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