Month: March 2015

This week, the quote I selected for Writers Quote Wednesday 2015 is:

Lorraine Hansberry is best known for her work as a playwright.

Hansberry passed away in 1965, at the young age of 34, two years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Before she died, two of her plays reached the stage.

1. A Raisin in the Sun (1959) 

The story of a struggling African-American family living in segregated Chicago during the 1950s.  She originally titled the play, “The Crystal Stair,” but later renamed it to “A Raisin in the Sun” taken from Langston Hughes’ poem, “Harlem” —

“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”  

Today, “A Raisin in the Sun,” shows up on the list of the National Theatre as “among the 20th century’s 100 most significant works.”

Honors, Recognition and Awards 

• The First African-American Woman to write a play performed on Broadway.
• The Youngest American to win a New York Critic’s Circle Award.
• The winner of the Cannes Film Festival Award in 1961 for the film version of the play.

 2. The Sign in Sidney Brunstein’s Window (1965)

Hansberry’s second play, about politics and activism, received mixed reviews and closed the day after her death.

Posthumous Works

Hansberry’s ex-husband compiled and adapted some of her works with:

• The production “To Be Young, Gifted and Black” one of the longest running off-Broadway plays and rated as the most successful during the 1968-69 season; and, in 1970, it was published in book form.
• The musical, “Raisin,” in 1973 won the Tony Award for Best Musical.
• Two 1972 television scripts, “The Drinking Gourd” and “What Use Are Flowers?”.
• “Les Blancs:  The Collected Last Plays of Lorraine Hansberry” edited and completed in 1972.
• The 2004 Broadway revival of “Raisin in the Sun,” which received a Tony Award Nomination.

Thank you, Silver Threading, for hosting this weekly event.  The seed planted by Writer’s Quote Wednesday 2015 led me to research and find, until now, the unknowns about my favorite authors,

Finally, I gathered the information shared in this post from the following links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_Hansberry

http://www.biography.com/people/lorraine-hansberry-9327823

http://voices.cla.umn.edu/artistpages/hansberryLorraine.php

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/r/a-raisin-in-the-sun/lorraine-hansberry-biography

http://archive.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/hansberry.html

http://www.gradesaver.com/author/lorraine-hansberry

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/254536/Lorraine-Hansberry

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Lorraine_Hansberry.aspx

 

 

 

Twenty-seven days waiting for breast cancer biopsy results because my oncologist is not available to discuss them until his next available appointment on March 27.  I prefer not to WAIT so I called and left word for either the doctor or nurse to telephone and discuss the results.

After two days with no call back, I just need to RANT.  First, I send a big old thank you to Imani for hosting Freedom Friday and giving me the Freedom to RANT today.

I meditate.  I walk.  I breathe.  I pray.  Yet, stress and anxiety surrounds me as I WAIT for an answer to a possible life-changing experience.

Fear surrounded my space when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008.  Especially, as I went though treatment and experienced the:

• side effects of chemotherapy;
• skin damage of radiation;
• disfiguration of a lumpectomy; and
• the total loss of hair.

Today, I am not fearful of a breast cancer recurrence.  But, frustrated and dissatisfied with my oncologist who I depend on for counsel, guidance, support, and advice as I meander down the path of living with an incurable health condition.

His failure to respond to my request for a call back is of great concern.  And if we do not connect until March 27, I wonder if it is worthwhile to continue our physician-patient relationship.

I Need Dr. Marcus Welby

Does anybody recall the Dr. Welby television show which ran from 1969-1976?  I loved watching the show with our children.

“The show is about doctors Marcus Welby, a general practitioner and Steven Kiley, b young assistant. The two try to treat people as individuals in an age of specialized medicine and uncaring doctors.” (Anonymous Writer)

This past week, I thought a lot about Dr. Welby as I compared this TV doctor’s treatment of his patients to the lack of compassion shown by my oncologist.

RANT OVER

I just received the telephone call from my oncologist’s office.  The biopsy was NORMAL and REVEALED NO SIGNS OF BREAST CANCER.

Thanks to all my blogging friends and family who sent prayers and positive comments.  You helped to keep me grounded as I went through the WAIT.

Closing

When I see the oncologist on March 27, I will express appreciation for the call back.  Also, I will share my dissatisfaction with his clerical staff who initially refused to allow me to leave a call-back message.

She insisted there were no other options for the twenty-seven day WAIT other than being added to the wait list for a cancellation.

However, she did allow me to leave a message when I called later to tell her that the imaging facility said the results were in the oncologist’s office and that I should ask the doctor or his physician assistant to call and discuss the results over the phone.