Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer by Nancy G. Brinker and

In this compelling memoir, the 64-year-old founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure mixes details from her soap opera–like life with facts about breast cancer. Nancy Goodman of Peoria, Illinois, morphs from a chubby Jewish girl (in second grade, she tips the scale at more than 100 pounds) to a nearly six-foot glamazon. After breast cancer kills her beautiful 36-year-old sister, Suzy, Nancy starts the world’s largest breast-cancer charity in her memory. At age 37, she discovers a lump in her own chest. Nancy gets by with a little help from her second husband, Norman Brinker, the casual-dining gazillionaire and a member of the Susan G. Komen board from its inception in 1982 until his death last year. Cowritten with Joni Rodgers (author of the cancer memoir Bald in the Land of Big Hair, 2001), the book does take some liberties, and Nancy drops names (she spent time with Betty Ford and was a U.S. ambassador for George H. W. Bush and chief of protocol for George W.) and settles some scores. But readers will find much to admire. --Karen Springen

Owner Reviews, Ratings, Comments and Criticism
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) What an encouraging book. I know the book is about the Susan G. Komen for the Cure not for profit foundation and work, but it goes way beyond that. The first thing that caught my attention was the solid family that Susan and Nancy were born into. The first section of the book while telling the story of Suzy and her battle with cancer also tells the story of a solid Jewish family that is committed to each other. I am encouraged by their family values, their family cohesiveness and the love and energy their parents put into being parents and training their children. Suzy is like her father, fun loving, conservative, probably republican and dedicated to helping others and volunteering for anything and everything. She never met a person she couldn't become a friend to. Nancy is more like her mother, determined, driven, a democrat, cause oriented, fair minded, and willing to push the establishment, in a very good way. Yet as Nancy describes, even though her parents were total opposites in personality and politics they loved each other and never fought over issues. They taught their girls to look at issues and make up their own mind as to what they thought and then to respect others for what they thought. This training would take Nancy far when it came to the world of breast cancer awareness. She promises Suzy that she will fight to make breast cancer a thing of the past. But at the time of the promise no one, repeat no one wanted to talk about it, hear about it or publish anything in print about it. That was the early 1980's. We have come a long way since then. Much of the book gives stories about survivor's of breast cancer. About volunteers who give their lives to the cause. About the love of one sister for another that drives Nancy to put together an organization that is amazing. From the beginning of having just $200 an some names of people to contact for support, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure has now raised and donated more than 1.5 billion towards breast cancer research, and it is paying off. Another aspect of the book that I found amazing was the description and detail that Nancy gives about how her father, her mother, her time at Neman Marcus and eventually her husband, Norman Brinker, gave to her and education her about how to organize and run a business, not for the sake of the business but for the sake of people and the benefit it will bring them. I was overwhelmed with the description of Norman Brinker and his management style that endeared him to his employees. Here was a man who worked hard and knew that his restaurant managers also worked hard. So, on New Years Eve when every restaurant would be open and doing brisk business, Norman would be at his desk in corporate headquarters and would individually call every one of the 400 managers to thank them for their hard work and to ask them about how their families were doing. His employees knew that he loved and care for them. What a great lesson. Nancy came to the cause of breast cancer awareness because it cost her the life of her dearest friend, her sister Suzy. She watched the horrible treatments and how Suzy suffered. She was determined to find a cure, make a change, help other women. In researching the need she found a statistic that floored me. During the Viet Nam War over 58,000 service men lost their lives (I felt the loss of 5 friends). During that same 10 year period of time 339,000 women in the U.S. died from breast cancer. Yet no one was talking about this silent killer. I didn't know that statistic. But I agree with Nancy, that was wrong. Something should have been said long ago. Even with all the research going on there are still some 30,000 to 40,000 women a year who will die from Breast Cancer. The work needs to continue. You will be challenged by this great book. You will be given information that you won't be able to set aside and ignore. You will be challenged to make a response, will you contribute cash, become a volunteer organizer, join a research team or a Public Relations Advocate. After reading this book you won't be the same. I plan to see that others read this book, get familiar with it and then make some informed decisions about their involvement. Oh, and one last thing. The love story between Norman & Nancy Brinker is worth the price of the book. Two people who found each other, fell in love and pushed each other to great heights in their different business and all the time falling deeply in love with each other. They were made for each other. God was gracious to bring them together, because Nancy was going to need Normans support throughout this whole adventure to make it happen. He was always there with the right words of advice, the display of management that was needed and the loving family time that allowed them to wind down and relax after a hard day of work. Well, I have said a lot. There is so much more to say, so instead of me rewriting the book here, pick up a copy and read it. You will not be sorry. If you have ever had someone die from Breast Cancer this book will help you with the grieving process. If you presently have breast cancer, this book will prove motivational for you. You CAN SURVIVE, that's the point of the book. If you have a family member with Breast Cancer you will learn what your supporting role is and what to expect. You will learn about cutting edge treatments. You will learn about choices you have to make regarding treatment. Some get aggressive, some more conservative, which will you do? Well, I have gone on and on. I enjoyed this book and feel like I was let into a bit of heaven to learn about Suzy and Nancy's family, then to learn about the driven volunteers for SGK and how they all pull together even in the tough times because they are all dedicated to stop the cancer and save women. Please don't let the hype put you off from reading this book. Pick it up, jump into it and don't put it down till you're done. You will be a changed person and much more aware about breast cancer when you finish. Enjoy this fascinating read.