By Don C. Reed, author of “STEM CELL BATTLES: Proposition 71 and Beyond: How Ordinary People Can Fight Back Against the Crushing Burden of Chronic Disease—with a Posthumous Foreword by Christopher Reeve”.
It is three in the morning, Christmas Day, 2015. A few feet away, beloved Gloria is snoring in the bedroom. I am trying to be very quiet and not wake her up, because I have something important to say to you.
First, as you know, there are very few bookstores left in America. Used to be, my home town of Fremont had 4 bookstores—now, only one, a second-hand shop.
But there are lots of grocery stores—and some have bookracks for paperbacks… hold that thought, please.
Now. In 2003, California said “YES!” to $3 billion in stem cell research—the citizens’ initiative Proposition 71 authorized that program– but do you know what has happened to it since?
Few people know what a tremendous fight it took to pass and protect the California stem cell agency, nor what a success it became.
The results are amazing—more than two dozen FDA-approved human trials of stem cell therapies ongoing, completed, or scheduled within the next six months—for “incurable” conditions like paralysis, blindness, cancer, diabetes and more.
But the money is 2/3 gone…
By public or private means, I want that funding renewed, so regenerative medicine can bring cures—step by scientific step– to the general public.
I want my paralyzed son Roman Reed to fulfill Christopher Reeve’s prediction:
“One day, Roman and I will stand up from our wheelchairs, and walk away from them forever”.—Christopher Reeve, from his Posthumous Foreword in “Stem Cell Battles”, World Scientific Publishing, 2015.
Cure did not come in time for the paralyzed Superman, but the flame of his faith still guides our way. We must and shall “go forward”, as he always said, and prevail: fighting not just paralysis, but every chronic disease and disability.
Remember those grocery stores I mentioned earlier? In its present form, 432 pages, my book “Stem Cell Battles” is too big to fit in their small book racks.
But could we cut the book in half—into a two-part general-interest pocket book?
My publisher just told me, if we can sell 400 more copies of the big paperback version ($24.99) that could justify the risk– of a low-cost pocket-book.
An easy-reading pocket-sized book about stem cell research—cheap– available everywhere? Think what that could mean.
If cure research is to succeed, we need millions of people discussing stem cells at the dinner table. It needs to be a national issue again, as it once was.
We need to be asking our political representatives: where do they stand? Do they support full stem cell research?
Or are they backing the ultra-conservative Republican platform of 2008 and 2012, which called for a complete ban on embryonic stem cell research?
We need to know who stands for cure—who opposes progress toward that goal—and what do other countries do?
How close are we to cures? Who are the top fighters in the science class? How can we win this war of encroaching disease? Does it affect the national debt– or exceed it? The book is my lifework. It is documented so you can see where every answer comes from, and how you can find out more.
“STEM CELL BATTLES: Proposition 71 and Beyond: How Ordinary People Can Fight Back Against the Crushing Burden of Chronic Disease—with a Posthumous Foreword by Christopher Reeve”: 432 pp, color, ($24.99) is at Amazon.com.
Here is the address.
It is a non-fiction narrative adventure, written to be easily understood: a series of connected short stories, a 21-year odyssey into the world of cure research.
It begins with my son’s football accident, and the law named after him, AB 750: the Roman Reed Spinal Cord Injury Research Act of 1999, America’s first state-funded embryonic stem cell research—and that is just the first three pages!
The main thrust is the California stem cell program, which began as Prop 71, championed and led by Bob Klein. California is turning theory into therapy, working through FDA-approved human trials to fight diabetes, blindness, paralysis, cancer and more—with researchers around the world.
What do the experts say of it?
“(The book tells)…how a small group of people can bring about significant change for many… Valuable for that reason alone, the human stories Reed includes make it more so.”—J.G. Stinson, FOREWORD Reviews (5 hearts)
“…rare blend of science geared for lay readers, discussions of political struggles surrounding that science, and inspirational stories of those who suffer from chronic illness… highly recommended… D. Donovan, Senior Book Reviewer, Midwest Book Reviews
Brock Reeve said: “As the director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Christopher Reeve’s brother, I know firsthand the importance of popular support for medical research. Don Reed’s book is a great overview – easy to read, full of good stories and the science is accurate.”—Brock Reeve.
Mary Wooley, the President of Research!America said: “This is a book you might start off by reading a little of, and then find you can’t put down! The quick pace, open and honest descriptions of painful challenges and temporary set- backs… colorful descriptions… victorious moments. —MARY WOOLEY, President, Research!America
“Impassioned advocacy for stem cell research … recommended for anyone interested in the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, its origins, and its accomplishments so far …” — –James Till, Toronto, Canada (winner of Lasker Award, considered one of the “Fathers of Stem Cell Research”.)
If you buy a copy for your family today, that brings us one book closer to the magic number of 400 sales—and your neighborhood grocery store.
Help make it happen.
Someone you love will thank you.
Cut and paste the following into your browser, take a look:
And from my family to yours, Merry Christmas, and the happiest of New Years!