Almost twenty years after losing his four year-old nephew to an aggressive brain tumor, first-time author John Voso Jr. is honoring Richie White’s memory by compiling stories with decidedly happy endings. Today’s Heroes: Surviving with Style (2011, Halo Publishing International), chronicles the emotional struggles, temporary setbacks, gradual improvements, and ultimate triumphs of 23 cancer survivors, aged 15 to 85.
Richie’s parents, Linda and Rich White, established the Richie White Pediatric Fund for the purpose of "Making Children Smile." The Fund has sponsored 15 summer picnics and 18 Christmas parties for pediatric oncology patients at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. True to its mission, the Fund has entertained and purchased gifts for more than 2,000 children to date.
John was moved to write Today’s Heroes – a six year undertaking – after being emotionally touched by people he met at the Fund’s events.
“These are their stories, not mine,” says John. “They are inspiring, and really magnify the old adage, ‘one day at a time!’”
The survivors John profiles are long on battle-tested optimism, refreshing humor, savvy advice, and genuine gratitude, and noticeably short on self-pity. Among those telling their stories, readers will meet:
- Benjamin Reed, 26, a first-year resident at the Cleveland Clinic after graduating from medical school last year - 18 years after successful treatment for a form of brain cancer.
- Matt Cordy, 22, a University of Toledo student and bone cancer survivor. He aspires to run his own foundation one day to “help others in tough times.” Since a knee replacement operation, he jokingly explains away his surgical scar with a story of surviving a “shark attack while surfing.”
- Michelle Torchia Kynkor, 52, a three-time cancer survivor. When told she had thyroid cancer – she had already beaten Hodgkin’s disease and breast cancer – Michelle and her husband Bobby laughed.
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