SAN ANTONIO (February 23, 2010) — Suzie Humphreys freely admits she makes her living “talking off the top of my head.” Yet she is confident that when she speaks at the Cancer Center Council’s 17th Annual Spring Luncheon, the audience will be uplifted.
“My purpose that day is to help everyone take a break and have some fun in the midst of whatever fear and chaos is going on in their lives,” Humphreys says.
The luncheon, set for 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 23, is intended to entertain and thank Council volunteers and friends who support the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio. Proceeds benefit the CTRC’s Patient Assistance Fund.
Humphreys looks back over a 50-year career that started with a starring role in a San Antonio Little Theatre production and wryly observes, “None of my career was planned.” After growing up in San Antonio and “graduating with a D- average” from Alamo Heights High School, she headed to Dallas and became a singer for a musical revue. She was on stage with entertainers Sid Caesar and Donald O’Connor. Humphreys sat in front of the TV camera talking to John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, George Bush and the Reverend Billy Graham. She had a 20-year radio career in Dallas, appearing on Ron Chapman’s long-running morning show on KVIL Radio. Now she lives in Fredericksburg, Texas, when she isn’t on the road talking to audiences.
Six years ago at the age of 66, Humphreys was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I feel kind of guilty talking about it because I had such an easy time of it,” she remarks. “It was a stage 0, I had a mastectomy and that was it.” Since then she has entertained many audiences of breast cancer survivors. Her message is that even with cancer, the show must go on.
“If it’s true that we’re all actors on the stage of life, it is up to each of us how we’re going to play the part. We can be an inspiration or we can be a victim. It’s our decision,” Humphreys says.
Individual tickets to hear Humphreys over lunch at Pearl Stable (312 Pearl Parkway, off U.S. Highway 281 at Grayson) are $50. Table sponsorships (10 seats per table) also are available. To reserve a seat or for more information, contact the Cancer Center Council office at (210) 450-5571. Download an online reservation form at www.cancercentercouncil.net or www.ctrc.net. Deadline for reservations is Thursday, March 18.
The Cancer Therapy & Research Center at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the nation’s leading academic research and treatment centers, serving more than 4.4 million people in the high-growth corridor of Central and South Texas including Austin, San Antonio, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. CTRC is one of the elite cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, and is one of the only three in Texas. A world leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development is internationally recognized for conducting one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in the clinical and/or preclinical development of many of the cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit www.ctrc.net