A Typeface for Mrs. Pollifax

The Mrs. Pollifax books are delightful so when I found a copy of A Palm for Mrs. Pollifax in a little free library, I took it even though I'd read it six years ago and even though it was a cheap trade paperback from 1973. 

Imagine my delight at the typography! That chapter heading typeface looks just like the font I used in junior high school shop class to make personalized stationery. It's kind of awful and wonderful, and harkens back to old school handwriting: the capital F, the capital L. 

I think it's either Coronet or Ribbon, thanks to What The Font, a nifty site where you can upload an image and it'll identify the typeface. 

Also, I did rather enjoy the description of golf, even if "greensward" is one word (not two):

In Langley, Virginia, it was mid-afternoon. Carstairs inserted the key into the lock of his office door and entered with a sigh of deep relief. He felt he had been excessively well-behaved today. He had risen at dawn, driven bumper-to-bumper to the golf club, awaited his turn in a milling crowd and played eighteen holes of golf under a humid, 90-degree sun. His doctor had told him the fresh air and exercise would rejuvenate him but instead he felt hot, irritable, and betrayed. To a man accustomed to deploying live human beings around the world he could think of nothing more idiotic than mindlessly pushing an inanimate ball around a green sward in the sun.

In Which Lung Cancer Meets A Birthday

Today is my sister’s birthday. She's pretty cute, eh?

More than 8 years ago, she was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. For the past 8 years, she has worked tirelessly on behalf of lung cancer research and advocacy. Among other things, she served as a patient representative to panels run by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

What is the CDMRP? From its website:

The CDMRP originated in 1992 via a Congressional appropriation to foster novel approaches to biomedical research in response to the expressed needs of its stakeholders-the American public, the military, and Congress.

One of the specific and unusual aspects of the program is that they involve consumer advocates throughout the program cycle – that’s what my sister did for several program cycles.

She was even profiled on the CDMRP’s website (and/but you'll notice I had to go to the Internet Archive to find "her" page). What she said about her association with the CDMRP is:

The work is hard, especially for someone like me who lacks a scientific background. The opportunity, however, to participate in something so important makes all the hours spent sweating over the applications thoroughly worthwhile. I feel tremendous hope for the future when I get to see what the researchers are working on, and I am always honored and humbled to share a conference table with the brilliant scientists who are superheroes to me and my fellow patients. To be able to provide the patient perspective on proposed research is a gift that I cherish, and I take great pride in the work I have been able to do for the LCRP.

Besides the fact that it’s her birthday, why am I writing about this?

Because the current year’s budget for the CDMRP is about 43% of what it was last year, and lung cancer has been cut out altogether.

What kind of cancer kllls more people than any other, by a lot? LUNG CANCER.

If you feel up to it, please complain to your congressional representative. And if you have a few spare nickels, please consider a donation to Lungevity. Thanks.