The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot

The Lacks Family	Medical Profession
Henrietta David (Day) – husband Deborah (Dale) David (Sonny) Lawrence – oldest son Lucile Elsie – daughter, sent to Crownsville State Hospital Joe( Zakariyya) – youngest son   Gary Lacks – cousin – The Disciple   Ethel - moved in with husband, Galen, to take care of children.  Ethel abused all children, Galen abused Deborah   Spouses: Alfred (Cheetah) Carter – Deborah’s 1st husband      Alfred Jr. - son James Pullman - Deborah's 2nd husband - preacher     Davon - son Bobbette - Lawrence's wife – took in Lacks children	Johns Hopkins Dr. Howard Jones – Henrietta’s gynecologist Dr. Richard Wesley TeLinde – one of top cervical cancer experts Dr. George Gey – head of Tissue Research Margaret Gey – surgical nurse, ran lab Mary Kubicek -  Gey’s assistant (saw Henrietta’s nail polish and recognized her as a real person)   Christoph Lengauer – cancer researcher – connected with Lacks family     Morehouse School of Medicine Roland Pattilo – professor of gynecology – organized yearly symposium in Henrietta’s honor
Others: Carlton and Ruby Lacks – oldest white Lacks in Clover Courtney Speed – beauty shop owner in Turner Station Sir Lord Keenan Kester Cofield – tried to exploit family

 For Discussion:

1.       Discuss the children after Henrietta's death:

a.       No one told them what had happened to their mother, she just did not return.  What impact did this have on them?

b.      Ethel and her husband, Galen,  moved in to help take care of the children.   Children abused by Ethel, possibly as retaliation for previous jealousies.  Galen sexually abused Deborah.  How could their father not know this and take action?

2.       All of the children had hearing loss. Why?  How did this affect their understanding and their lives?

3.       Discuss Rebecca and Deborah’s relationship and how it changed over the years.

4.       Deborah was always afraid that she would get cancer like her mother, and many of the people who contacted her unknowingly reinforced this fear.  She often thought they were testing her for cancer when taking blood samples.  Do you think they could or should have been more sensitive to Deborah and understood her better?

a.       Dr. Hsu, who spoke with a heavy Chinese accent, went to talk to Deborah, who spoke with a heavy southern accent.

5.       Discuss the family’s reaction to the knowledge that Henrietta’s cells were still alive and being used in medical research without their knowledge.

a.       Did the researchers have a responsibility to tell the family at some point?

6.       Discuss the fact that many people made large amounts of money selling HeLa cells, but not the family.  Do you think there should have been some sort of compensation for the family?   What is your opinion about using tissues for research without the family’s or person’s permission?

7.       Given the times that this story happened, do you think there would have been a difference if the Lacks were white or from a financially rich background?

8.       There were several events that Deborah in particular attributed to Henrietta after her death.  What do you think?

a.       Storm at burial

b.      HeLa cells taking over all other cells they came in contact with

c.       Michael Rogers, reporter from Rolling Stone, in auto accident on way to interview Lacks family

d.      Fire at Rogers’ home in California destroying all of his notes and documents

9.       Did you like the writing style?

a.       Time line at top of page

b.      Alternating between current time and 1950s