Cancer doesn't just attack an individual;
it attacks the individual and his or her loved ones.
After her mother died of colorectal cancer, Shell Lewis wanted to cope with her mother's passing and to understand the range of emotions that both she and her siblings experienced and were yet to endure. Ms. Lewis decided to create a book composed by those who have been touched by the disease.
And We Write: Surviving Cancer; Let the Healing Begin is a means of understanding the fear, grief, anger, acceptance, and joy that cancer causes in one's life. Through poetry, humor, and autobiography, cancer victims tell their respective stories and the impact that the disease has had on their lives. The compilation serves as a safe haven for cancer patients, illustrating that the extreme anger, relentless fear, uninhibited tears, and unyielding doubt are normal emotions that all cancer victims face and eventually overcome.
In 2008, Shell Lewis earned her MA of English from Brooklyn College (CUNY), where she also served as an assistant ESL instructor and nonteaching adjunct, instructing college students on the skills needed to pass the CUNY Proficiency Exam (CPE) to earn their college degrees.
While pursuing her own degree, Ms. Lewis interned at Byron Preiss Visual Publications and People Magazine. In addition to bylines in People, Ms. Lewis has bylines in the New York Press and The Big Apple Parent. During her college career, Ms. Lewis also served as editor for U.S. High, an online social network for high school-aged teens interested in government and politics.
Ms. Lewis is currently employed as teen outreach manager for a New York City-based nonprofit organization that recruits and employs teens to tutor first graders and kindergarteners who are struggling readers.