Non-fiction Best Seller Chosen for One Book, One Community Project

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Rebecca Skloot, author of "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks".

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The second annual One Book, One Community project at the University of Arkansas will feature the nonfiction best-seller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by science writer Rebecca Skloot. Skloot will visit the university Oct. 20-22 to speak to students, northwest Arkansas book club members, and to the general public.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the story of a young African-American woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951. The cancer cells were taken from her body, without her knowledge or permission, preserved, grown, and studied in laboratories. Due to their unique ability to continue replicating, these cells, known as HeLa cells, have been an instrumental part of medical breakthroughs and scientific advances across the world. In fact, a University of Arkansas researcher is currently using HeLa cells to study how viruses mutate.

Despite the significance of these cells, Henrietta Lacks’ family didn’t learn of their existence until decades after her death, and they have never shared in any profits that were made directly from these cells. Henrietta Lacks played a vital role in modern medicine and the biotech industry, yet, as Skloot points out, her children can’t afford health insurance.

Chancellor G. David Gearhart read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks this summer and in a video message to the campus and community he encourages everyone to get involved in the “shared learning experience” of the One Book, One Community project.

The Immortal Life is required reading for all University of Arkansas students enrolled in the English 1013 Composition course, but everyone in the university and northwest Arkansas communities is invited to read the book and join in the discussion of the ethical, historical and scientific issues that it raises. A series of events has been planned in the coming months to explore these issues. The One Book, One Community website has a full schedule of all events connected to the project.

The One Book, One Community project is the combined effort of several university departments, student affairs organizations and the Fayetteville Public Library. David Jolliffe, who holds the Brown Chair in English Literacy, and Kevin Fitzpatrick, holder of the Bernice Jones Chair in Community, began the project last year and as co-chairs of the committee have built upon its initial success.

"The response last year truly exceeded our expectations,” said Jolliffe. “This year we were able to get more people, from more parts of the community involved in the planning from a much earlier date. This project is well on its way to being a major educational event for our students and for the whole community."

“We are very fortunate to be able to bring such an excellent writer and such a timely book to the university and to northwest Arkansas,” said Fitzpatrick. “Rebecca Skloot is one of the brightest young science writers in America, and her book has been well-received all over the country as evidenced by its current position on the New York Times bestseller list. The committee worked really hard at putting together an amazing program over the months ahead that should stimulate important conversation on a critical social, cultural and ethical set of issues."