By Sara Hoover

Rebecca Skloot

Skloot will be in Memphis on Wednesday, March 31, at Davis-Kidd Bookstore at 6 p.m. for a reading.

The book is about the Lacks family, innovations in science and bioethics. Henrietta Lacks was an impoverished, black tobacco farmer, whose tumor-filled cervical cells were taken without her consent in 1951. Six months later, she died. Her cells, known as HeLa, are considered the foundation of modern science and provided breakthroughs in the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, cloning and in vitro fertilization. They also launched a multibillion-dollar industry, being the only human cells to survive indefinitely in a laboratory. Skloot, director of the River City Writers Series, is on a four-month book tour and has been featured on NPR and in The New York Times Book Review, Washington Post Book World, Time and Vogue.

“I knew two years ago that this would be a best seller,” said Richard Bausch, Moss Chair of Excellence in the English department. “Two reasons: the subject is important and is obviously strong material; it would sell well enough even in the hands of an ordinary writer. In the hands of a gifted writer like Becca, it simply could not miss best-sellerdom — tremendous subject wedded to wonderful writing. Also, she came in here and lighted this place up. She worked herself to near exhaustion for the students here and for the program. We had a terrific year of visits from Pulitzer Prize winners and literary best sellers, and publications from students. And she attracted very talented students — they came here because she was here. She’s a blazing talent.”