Occupation Science writer Name Rebecca Skloot | Role Freelance writer | |
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Books The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Immortal Life of Henrietta Awards Goodreads Choice Awards Best Nonfiction, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Debut Goodreads Author Nominations Goodreads Choice Awards Best Goodreads Author, Goodreads Choice Awards Favorite Book Profiles | ||
The immortal life of henrietta lacks by rebecca skloot official trailer
Rebecca L. Skloot (born September 19, 1972) is a freelance science writer who specializes in science and medicine. Her first book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010), was one of the best-selling new books of 2010, staying on The New York Times Bestseller list for over 2 years and eventually reaching #1. It was made into a movie by Oprah Winfrey, which premiered on HBO on April 22, 2017 and starred Rose Byrne as Skloot.
Contents
- The immortal life of henrietta lacks by rebecca skloot official trailer
- Rebecca skloot explains how she recreates historic events in her writing
- Early life and education
- Career
- Awards and honors
- Memberships
- Publications
- References
Rebecca skloot explains how she recreates historic events in her writing
Early life and education
Rebecca was born in Springfield, Illinois. She is the daughter of poet, novelist, and essayist Floyd Skloot and Betsy McCarthy, a professional knitter and pattern book author. Skloot said "in the Pacific Northwest, [her] roots [are] half New York Jew and half Midwestern Protestant." She received her high school diploma from Metropolitan Learning Center in Portland, Oregon. After attending Portland Community College and becoming a Veterinary Technician, she received a BS in biological sciences from Colorado State University, and an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Pittsburgh. She is a former vice president of the National Book Critics Circle
Career
She has taught creative writing and science journalism at the University of Pittsburgh, New York University, and the University of Memphis.
Skloot has published over 200 featured stories and essays. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, Discover, and New York magazine. Skloot is also a contributing editor at Popular Science and has worked as a correspondent for NPR's Radiolab and PBS's NOVA scienceNOW.
Her first book, the #1 New York Times bestselling The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010), is about Henrietta Lacks and the immortal cell line (known as HeLa) that came from her cancer cells in 1951. It was named a New York Times notable book, and selected as a best book of the year by more than 60 publications. It was made into an HBO film produced by Oprah Winfrey and Alan Ball with Rose Byrne portraying Skloot.
In reviewing the book, Karen Long quotes Skloot and describes the long process to find a publisher: "The Lackses challenged everything I thought I knew about faith, science, journalism and race," Skloot writes in her prologue. Stubbornly, she put a decade into telling this story, learning as much from the family as she was able to dig up herself. The book went through three publishing houses and four editors." Skloot and Henrietta's daughter Deborah formed a link in the writing of this book, which Deborah sees as her mother's hand guiding them. Skloot is described as an atheist.
Her second book, exploring the science and ethics of human–animal relationships, was put under contract with Crown Publishing Group in 2011. She discussed the topics of the book at the Chicago Humanities Festival in 2013. She spoke with researchers at Harvard University about it in 2015.
Awards and honors
Memberships
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