Written by award-winning biographer Judith L. Pearson, Radical Sisters: Shirley Temple Black, Rose Kushner, Evelyn Lauder, and the Dawn of the Breast Cancer Movement is the rich and meticulously researched narrative of three women who couldn’t have been more different, until they were diagnosed with breast cancer. In an era of medical myths and antiquated protocols, their intertwined stories began with the realization that treatment choices might not be their own. 

In Radical Sisters, Pearson skillfully transports readers through three decades of a changing social landscape in America (the 1970s through the 1990s), highlighting the courage that transformed society’s approach to breast cancer. Independently, these pioneers took on the most prevalent issues of their time: the cause, treatment, awareness, and cure of the disease. While none of them set out to be the trail-blazing advocates they became, they did for themselves what the mainstream healthcare system refused to do. 

When Shirley was diagnosed in 1972, she eschewed the current surgical protocol of biopsy and potential radical mastectomy all in one step. She then took the daring step of becoming the first celebrity to publicize her cancer. After Rose’s 1974 diagnosis, and against overwhelming odds, her self-proclaimed “streak of stubbornness and loud voice” eventually saw to the eradication of that outdated “one-step” procedure, along with the barbaric radical mastectomies. From her deathbed, she valiantly shepherded legislation for insurance coverage of mammograms and breast reconstruction (which passed Congress just months after she died). Evelyn Lauder then picked up the battle when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988. She was incensed by the lack of a comprehensive treatment center, paltry research funds, and lack of awareness for a disease that was literally killing women in epidemic proportions. Employing her impressive address book, she oversaw fundraising for New York City’s Evelyn Lauder Breast Center and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. And in a 1992 stroke of genius, she used her world-wide network of cosmetic counters to launch the now ubiquitous pink ribbon. 

With a foreword by Nancy Brinker, founder of Susan G. Komen, and timed for the 2025 National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Radical Sisters acts as a mirror, allowing readers to see reflections of themselves, and their own experiences and struggles. It is a powerful and emotional take on the evolution of the women’s health movement (and their participation in medicine) and the breast cancer revolution. 

All women (more than 300,000 of whom will be diagnosed this year) and those who love them owe these “radical sisters” a debt of gratitude for their place in history. 

Judith L. Pearson’s previous books include Crusade to Heal America: The Remarkable Life of Mary Lasker (which won a 2023 Florida Book Award), From Shadows to Life: A Biography of the Cancer Survivorship Movement (which won the 2022 Nautilus Gold Award), Wolves at the Door: The True Story of America’s Greatest Female Spy, and Belly of the Beast: A POW’s Story of Faith, Courage, and Survival Aboard a WWII Hell Ship. A diagnosis of Triple Negative Breast Cancer led Judy to found A 2nd Act, a nonprofit that raises funds for survivors ready to launch or grow their 2nd Acts after cancer.