Finding Henrietta Lacks

by Michael Rogers

Here’s the compelling story of how a young Rolling Stone writer tracked down and published the identity of a then-anonymous cell donor, now known to millions of readers from Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. As Rebecca describes, back in 1976, a very young science writer was the first to locate the Lacks family and explain to them Henrietta’s remarkable role in biomedicine. This is the story of how that happened. She was only known as “Helen Lane” (the pseudonym for Henrietta that the researchers used in public), but her apparently immortal cells had already started to earn an enormous place in science. Michael Rogers, then a staff writer for the rock and roll magazine, wanted to bring it to life by actually finding her surviving relatives and paint a portrait of “Helen” herself. It seemed like a long-shot at best, and in fact nearly proved impossible. Back in the Seventies, the biomedical community controlled information far more closely than today. Plus, the unspoken rules of science writing at the time made printing a tissue donor’s real name ethically dubious. Ultimately, through a single slip of the tongue by a researcher, Rogers was able to find the family—as they were on the very first step of the difficult journey that Rebecca so ably chronicles in her book. This 8,000 word ebooklet describes Rogers’ efforts to find Henrietta Lacks—within the particular opportunities and challenges of journalism in the Seventies—and also includes the text of the original 1976 article. -- Michael Rogers is a novelist, technology pioneer and futurist, who most recently served as futurist-in-residence for The New York Times. He speaks to audiences worldwide and is a regular guest on radio and television. Rogers began his career as a writer for Rolling Stone magazine. He co-founded Outside magazine and then launched Newsweek’s technology column, winning numerous journalism awards. For ten years he was vice president of The Washington Post Company's new media division, leading both the newspaper and Newsweek into the new century. Rogers studied physics and creative writing at Stanford University and lives in New York City, where he works on ebook and television projects.

Genres: Nonfiction

24 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 24, 2011

About the author

Michael Rogers is an author, technology pioneer, and futurist. His career has ranged from writing novels and earning patents to jobs as vice-president of research & development for the Washington Post Company and futurist-in- residence for the New York Times.

Michael studied physics and creative writing at Stanford. Knopf purchased his first novel, Mindfogger, when he was 21. He subsequently published two more books with Knopf—a collection of short fiction and a nonfiction book on genetic engineering—as well as novels for Simon & Schuster and Bantam Books.

While working as a staff writer at Rolling Stone, he co-founded Outside magazine. Michael also wrote “The Practical Futurist” for Newsweek and MSNBC. Fifteen years ago, he started his consultancy, Practical Futurist. Since then, he has worked with companies ranging from FedEx, Boeing, and GE to Microsoft, Pfizer, and American Express.

Michael has also been a guest on radio and television, including Good Morning America, the Today Show, PBS, CNN, and the History Channel. A California native, he divides his time between Brooklyn and Sicily.

Reviews

[S.B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Original Discoverer of Henrietta lacks

I will have to go in search of more writing by this author. I really enjoy his style and his honesty. This piece was unexpectedly short- more of a long essay than anything else. It did provide interesting insight to how he originally unearthed Henrietta Lacks’ identity in the 1970s, long before Rebecca Skloot.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this as a supplement to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Michael puts his entire Rolling Stone article, which is referenced MANY times in Skloot's book, in this little mini-read. You must buy it!

[Keisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool story by the guy to bring the Lacks case to light. Kind of felt like he was competing with the novel.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good companion read to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It is the story of how Michael Rogers originally got the story of the woman behind the HeLa cells.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really nice little top-up to Rebecca Skloots book but not really worth reading unless you're already familiar with that book.

[Marti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most of what Rogers writes here is best understood after reading Rebecca Skloot's book, but I'm glad I didn't miss this little gem. I enjoyed reading Mr. Rogers' book.

[Idyll · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good add on to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It contains the article that inspired her journey to find the genesis of HeLa cells!

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once again reality is stranger than fiction !!! When we discover what happens to people that are doing the best they can, yet get destroyed by those that are supposed to help... Scary world !!

[Carol Jones-Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a sad but very moving story.

This story commences with Henrietta Lacks developing cancer. With treatment she is not healed and
as a result dies. What is so fascinating about this book is that her cells continue to live generations later. Even today they are still alive.

I've read this book several times, and it is really fascinating and good. It's really a good read.
If you like this type of book, health & science, I highly Recommend.

[Betsy Milan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but interesting

This short little essay, along with the included Rolling Stones article, includes vital background on the Henrietta Lackes/HeLa story for those of us who are interested in the bioethics of the development and commercial use of biologics. It is engagingly written and can easily be finished in a single sitting.

[Kimberly Stokes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting Read

If you've read the Henrietta Lacks story, then reading the 1st published story about Hela is a nice follow-up. Definitely not as good as Rebecca Skloots novel, but worth the read.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting supplement to Rebecca Skloot’s book and contains the original Rolling Stone article.