Babette Rosmond
Encyclopedia
Babette Rosmond was an American author.
Rosmond sold her first short story to The New Yorker
at age seventeen. She published short fiction of her own and with her first husband, Leonard M. Lake. She worked as an editor at the magazine publisher Street & Smith
, editing two of their most famous pulp magazine
s, Doc Savage
(from 1944 to 1948) and The Shadow
(from 1946 to 1948). Fellow Street & Smith editor John W. Campbell
, the legendary science fiction editor, published Rosmond's sf debut, a story co-written by Lake called "Are You Run-Down, Tired-," in the October 1942 issue of Unknown Worlds
and included her story "One Man's Harp" from the August 1943 issue in From Unknown Worlds (1948), an anthology of the best stories from that magazine.
In 1944, she married lawyer Henry J. Stone. They would be married for the rest of her life and they had two children.
Rosmond set her debut novel, The Dewy Dewy Eyes (1946), in the world of pulp magazine publishing, featuring a heroine fresh out of college and an editor-in-chief who plans a new glossy paper publication. Her second novel, A Party for Grown-Ups (1948), was about an affair between a married doctor and a wealthy divorcee. Lucy, or the Delaware Dialogues (1952) was about infighting amongst the suburban Delaware family. She also wrote The Children: A Comedy for Grown-Ups (1956), The Lawyers (1962), Error Hurled (1976), and Monarch (1978). She published the satirical novel Diary of a Candid Lady (1964) under the name Francis M. Arroway.
She served as fiction editor of Today's Family (from 1952 to 1953) then worked at Better Living (from 1953 to 1956), and Seventeen
(from 1957 to 1975). At Seventeen she was fiction editor and edited a series of anthologies of fiction published in the magazine: Seventeen's Stories (1958), Seventeen from Seventeen (1967), Seventeen Book of Prize Stories (1968), and Today's Stories from Seventeen (1971).
With actor Henry Morgan
she published a collection of the work of humorist Ring Lardner
, Shut Up, He Explained: A Ring Lardner Selection (1962). She also wrote a well-received biography of author and humorist Robert Benchley
, whom she had met as a teenager, Robert Benchley: His Life and Good Times (1970).
In the 1970s, Rosmond became an important early activist against traditional treatments for breast cancer. In February 1971 she found an olive
-sized lump in her breast and was diagnosed with breast cancer. The traditional treatment was a radical mastectomy
, which required removal of the entire breast as well as surrounding tissue, muscle, and lymph nodes. Two of her friends had that procedure and reported being unhappy with their choice and the resulting side effects. In response to her refusal to undergo a radical mastectomy, her doctor was condescending and insulting and told her she would be dead within three weeks. Through an article in McCall's
by Dr. William A. Nolen
she learned about Dr. George Crile, Jr.
at the Cleveland Clinic
. Crile was a leading advocate in the United States for procedures that removed much less material, a simple mastectomy, which only removes the breast, and a lumpectomy
, which removes only a small amount of tissue. Then extremely controversial, these treatments are now standard instead of using a radical mastectomy in all cases. Crile performed a successful lumpectomy on Rosmond and her cancer did not reappear until the late 1990s. She said "I think what I did was the highest level of women's liberation. I said 'No' to a group of doctors who told me, 'You must sign this paper, you don't have to know what it's all about.
Under the name Rosamond Campion, she began writing about her experiences. Her article in the February 1972 issue of McCall's, "The Right to Choose", generated more mail than any article in that publication's history. Some 80 percent of the mail was in support of her decision and many of the letters were from women who asked how to contact Dr. Crile, whose name she had withheld at his request. She told her story in a book, The Invisible Worm (1972), which takes its title from the poem "The Sick Rose
" by William Blake
. She appeared on a number of television programs, including a 1973 episode of The David Susskind Show where she and Crile debated two surgeons and two breast cancer survivors all opposed to her position. Public activism like Rosamond's caused a drastic transformation in how patients and doctors interacted regarding breast cancer and prompted a growing rejection of more radical procedures in favor of more informed decision making by the patient.
Rosmond died in 1997, likely from a new breast cancer that she refused to have diagnosed or treated.
Rosmond sold her first short story to The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
at age seventeen. She published short fiction of her own and with her first husband, Leonard M. Lake. She worked as an editor at the magazine publisher Street & Smith
Street & Smith
Street & Smith or Street & Smith Publications, Inc. was a New York City publisher specializing in inexpensive paperbacks and magazines referred to as pulp fiction and dime novels. They also published comic books and sporting yearbooks...
, editing two of their most famous pulp magazine
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
s, Doc Savage
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
(from 1944 to 1948) and The Shadow
The Shadow
The Shadow is a collection of serialized dramas, originally in pulp magazines, then on 1930s radio and then in a wide variety of media, that follow the exploits of the title character, a crime-fighting vigilante in the pulps, which carried over to the airwaves as a "wealthy, young man about town"...
(from 1946 to 1948). Fellow Street & Smith editor John W. Campbell
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction , from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in...
, the legendary science fiction editor, published Rosmond's sf debut, a story co-written by Lake called "Are You Run-Down, Tired-," in the October 1942 issue of Unknown Worlds
Unknown (magazine)
Unknown was an American pulp fantasy fiction magazine, published from 1939 to 1943 by Street & Smith, and edited by John W. Campbell. Unknown was a companion to Street & Smith's science fiction pulp, Astounding Science Fiction, which was also edited by Campbell at the time; many authors and...
and included her story "One Man's Harp" from the August 1943 issue in From Unknown Worlds (1948), an anthology of the best stories from that magazine.
In 1944, she married lawyer Henry J. Stone. They would be married for the rest of her life and they had two children.
Rosmond set her debut novel, The Dewy Dewy Eyes (1946), in the world of pulp magazine publishing, featuring a heroine fresh out of college and an editor-in-chief who plans a new glossy paper publication. Her second novel, A Party for Grown-Ups (1948), was about an affair between a married doctor and a wealthy divorcee. Lucy, or the Delaware Dialogues (1952) was about infighting amongst the suburban Delaware family. She also wrote The Children: A Comedy for Grown-Ups (1956), The Lawyers (1962), Error Hurled (1976), and Monarch (1978). She published the satirical novel Diary of a Candid Lady (1964) under the name Francis M. Arroway.
She served as fiction editor of Today's Family (from 1952 to 1953) then worked at Better Living (from 1953 to 1956), and Seventeen
Seventeen (magazine)
Seventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
(from 1957 to 1975). At Seventeen she was fiction editor and edited a series of anthologies of fiction published in the magazine: Seventeen's Stories (1958), Seventeen from Seventeen (1967), Seventeen Book of Prize Stories (1968), and Today's Stories from Seventeen (1971).
With actor Henry Morgan
Henry Morgan (comedian)
Henry Morgan was an American humorist. He is remembered best in two modern media: radio, on which he first became familiar as a barbed but often self-deprecating satirist, and on television, where he was a regular and cantankerous panelist for the game show I've Got a Secret...
she published a collection of the work of humorist Ring Lardner
Ring Lardner
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...
, Shut Up, He Explained: A Ring Lardner Selection (1962). She also wrote a well-received biography of author and humorist Robert Benchley
Robert Benchley
Robert Charles Benchley was an American humorist best known for his work as a newspaper columnist and film actor...
, whom she had met as a teenager, Robert Benchley: His Life and Good Times (1970).
In the 1970s, Rosmond became an important early activist against traditional treatments for breast cancer. In February 1971 she found an olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
-sized lump in her breast and was diagnosed with breast cancer. The traditional treatment was a radical mastectomy
Radical mastectomy
Radical mastectomy is a surgical procedure in which the breast, underlying chest muscle , and lymph nodes of the axilla are removed as a treatment for breast cancer....
, which required removal of the entire breast as well as surrounding tissue, muscle, and lymph nodes. Two of her friends had that procedure and reported being unhappy with their choice and the resulting side effects. In response to her refusal to undergo a radical mastectomy, her doctor was condescending and insulting and told her she would be dead within three weeks. Through an article in McCall's
McCall's
McCall's was a monthly American women's magazine that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. It was established as a small-format magazine called The Queen in 1873...
by Dr. William A. Nolen
William A. Nolen
William A. Nolen, M.D. , was a retired surgeon and author who resided in Litchfield, Minnesota. He wrote a syndicated medical advice column that appeared in McCall's magazine for many years, and was the author of several books...
she learned about Dr. George Crile, Jr.
George Crile, Jr.
George Washington "Barney" Crile, Jr. was an American surgeon. He was a significant influence on how breast cancer is treated and was a visible and controversial advocate for alternative procedures....
at the Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic
The Cleveland Clinic is a multispecialty academic medical center located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The Cleveland Clinic is currently regarded as one of the top 4 hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News & World Report...
. Crile was a leading advocate in the United States for procedures that removed much less material, a simple mastectomy, which only removes the breast, and a lumpectomy
Lumpectomy
Lumpectomy is a common surgical procedure designed to remove a discrete lump, usually a benign tumor or breast cancer, from an affected man or woman's breast...
, which removes only a small amount of tissue. Then extremely controversial, these treatments are now standard instead of using a radical mastectomy in all cases. Crile performed a successful lumpectomy on Rosmond and her cancer did not reappear until the late 1990s. She said "I think what I did was the highest level of women's liberation. I said 'No' to a group of doctors who told me, 'You must sign this paper, you don't have to know what it's all about.
Under the name Rosamond Campion, she began writing about her experiences. Her article in the February 1972 issue of McCall's, "The Right to Choose", generated more mail than any article in that publication's history. Some 80 percent of the mail was in support of her decision and many of the letters were from women who asked how to contact Dr. Crile, whose name she had withheld at his request. She told her story in a book, The Invisible Worm (1972), which takes its title from the poem "The Sick Rose
The Sick Rose
"The Sick Rose" is a poem by William Blake. The first publication was in 1794, when it was included in his collection titled Songs of Experience as the 39th plate. The incipit of the poem is O Rose thou art sick. Blake composed the page sometime after 1789, and presents it with the illuminated...
" by William Blake
William Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
. She appeared on a number of television programs, including a 1973 episode of The David Susskind Show where she and Crile debated two surgeons and two breast cancer survivors all opposed to her position. Public activism like Rosamond's caused a drastic transformation in how patients and doctors interacted regarding breast cancer and prompted a growing rejection of more radical procedures in favor of more informed decision making by the patient.
Rosmond died in 1997, likely from a new breast cancer that she refused to have diagnosed or treated.