The same determination that propelled Wayne Cooke to flag down a jet in Charles DeGaulle Airport in 1977 has helped him fight cancer for the last six years.
Cooke, who wrote a comprehensive report of his battle in the December 19, 2007, issue of U.S. 1, has published a memoir with how-to tips for cancer patients and their friends and caregivers. He will speak and sign “On the Far Side of the Curve: A Stage IV Colon Cancer Survivor’s Journey” on Sunday, February 21, at Princeton United Methodist Church, at Nassau and Vandeventer streets. Cooke will speak at an 8 a.m. breakfast that day, sponsored by the church’s United Methodist Men; both men and women are invited. Call 609-924-2613 for $5 reservations. Then he will have a book signing session at 1 p.m. Half of the proceeds will go to the church.
After Cooke’s 30-year IBM career took him to the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Paris, he and his family returned to their home in Princeton Township, where he and his wife, Pat, are realtors with Coldwell Banker’s Nassau Street office. He sings with Voices chorale and with the church choir.
Despite a clean colonoscopy in August, 2000, Cooke was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer in November, 2003. Six years later, in a dramatic account about making it to the far end of the survival curve, he shares the lessons, coping techniques, wisdom, humor, and enthusiasm that have supported him through his illness.
Oncologist Peter Yi, who wrote the foreword, recommends the book’s valuable healing lessons to everyone who has cancer or has a loved one with cancer. Cooke, he says, “shows how one can treat cancer as a chronic disease and to live with cancer while maintaining a good quality of life. He teaches us that while cancer has many side effects, one can still live a life of wisdom, faith, and love.”
Author Event, Princeton United Methodist Church, Nassau at Vandeventer Street. Sunday, February 21, 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Wayne Cooke, author of “On the Far Side of the Curve: A Stage IV Colon Cancer Survivor’s Journey.” Cooke speaks at an 8 a.m. breakfast, $5 with reservation; booksigning at 1 p.m., with half of the proceeds to benefit the church. In the book Cooke shares his lessons, coping techniques, wisdom, humor, and enthusiasm that have supported him through his illness. The book is also available at Amazon and at Chicklets in the Princeton Shopping Center. 609-924-2613 or www.princetonumc.org.
