Heinz Kerry: Fighting cancer with candor
Posted by Lucky on Dec 29, 2009
Teresa Heinz Kerry’s recent announcement that she is being treated for breast cancer was delivered in characteristic fashion. She revealed her own cancer to guide others, calling on younger women to take mammograms. And she didn’t mince any words, quarreling with the panel of specialists that suggested many women could delay mammograms until 50.
Kerry’s feistiness is sometimes cited as a political liability for her husband, Senator John F. Kerry. But a good measure of integrity is being true to one’s own experiences, and her virtues have always stood out on the national stage. As a child growing up in what is now Mozambique, Kerry joined her father, a doctor, as he journeyed into the bush to treat his patients – and she later became an advocate for health programs in Africa. After the tragic death of her first husband, ketchup heir John Heinz, she dedicated herself to his memory, becoming a deeply respected philanthropist in his city of Pittsburgh. As a woman who grew up in an era when opportunities were restricted by gender, she spent millions of dollars advancing women’s causes.
During Kerry’s presidential campaign, she worked tirelessly but resisted simply repeating the standard lines of a political spouse. Her speech before the 2004 Democratic convention was notable for her strong assertion of the special perspective of Americans born overseas. “My right to speak my mind, to have a voice, to be what some have called ‘opinionated,’ is a right I deeply and profoundly cherish,’’ she declared.
Her medical prognosis is good, and so are the chances that her voice, fueled by the force of her varied personal experiences, will continue to be heard. Everyone in her adopted state of Massachusetts wishes her well.
