ATLANTA and PHOENIX, Nov. 14, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- A new book detailing the lives of mothers claimed too young from smoking-related illnesses, debuts today in time for National Lung Cancer Awareness Month.
The book, "A Breath Away: Daughters Remember Mothers Lost to Smoking" (Acacia Publishing, Phoenix, Ariz.), profiles 19 women, who began smoking young and who all died prematurely in their 60s or younger from smoking-related illnesses, chief among them lung cancer. Lung cancer, often referred to as the "invisible disease" because it is the least talked about and least funded of all major cancers, is increasingly becoming a woman's disease with women now accounting for nearly half of all new lung cancer cases.
The author, Anne Wainscott-Sargent, an Atlanta resident, wrote the book after losing her mother to lung cancer in August 2004. The mother stories are told through the eyes of a daughter, while the final chapter details the loss of a daughter in 1998, underscoring that the toll of smoking doesn't end with the previous generation of mothers. Approximately 178,000 women lose their lives to tobacco-related illnesses each year, from cancers and heart disease to emphysema and stroke. In the United States, an estimated 21 million women still smoke and an estimated 20 million women are former smokers.
"I wanted to honor my mother and other moms, who have paid the ultimate price for smoking," says Ms. Sargent. "I hope my book will help others going through this type of loss. Maybe through these stories, other women can find the courage to stop smoking for good." While not an expert, Ms. Sargent is available to speak about her personal loss and the common threads she found while interviewing these daughters.
Women from diverse backgrounds are featured in the book, including the author's mother and aunt, both victims of lung cancer, as well as the late anti-smoking activist Barbara Tarbox, who spent the last months of her life educating Canadian school children on the dangers of smoking. She is survived by her daughter MacKenzie, 13. The final chapter features the story of Deena Soloway, who was only 28 years old when she died from lung cancer in 1998.
The book's Foreword was written by Dr. Cheryl Healton, president and CEO of Washington, D.C.-based American Legacy Foundation, a national independent public health foundation dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit.
"These tales of love, of sadness, of joy and of loss, can help inspire a generation to walk away from tobacco, give comfort to those who have lost a loved one to tobacco-related death, and motivate all women who still smoke to try yet again to quit with the best help available," said Dr. Healton, who herself lost her mother to a heart attack after years of smoking.
The book retails for $16.95, and is available through www.acaciapublishing.com or by calling 1-866-265-4553.