Evan Hunter: We're ready.
Rob Holden: First things first -- how is Let’s Talk being received
in the publishing world this far?
Evan Hunter: My agents here and in London love it. They felt it was
honest, courageous and inspiring.
Natalie R. Collins: Wonderful. So your agents are shopping it around to
publishers now?
Evan Hunter: Yes, but there's many a slip twixt the cup and the
lip.
Natalie R. Collins: How do the two of you feel, now that it is
complete?
Dina Hunter: Relieved.
Evan Hunter: Happy it's behind us.
Rob Holden: Let's talk about the book itself for a moment.
Evan Hunter: Okay.
Rob Holden: Can you give our readers an idea of the form it takes -- how
it's written?
Evan Hunter: It starts with a doctor telling me I have cancer. The first
part takes us into surgery to remove it. Then we go back 12 years to when it
all started. Each section has its own title. Dina's point of view is scattered
throughout.
Rob Holden: When you say "when it all started", could you tell us a bit
about that?
Evan Hunter: I went to a doctor to have my ears cleaned. He spotted
something on my vocal cord, wrote "early lesion?" That was the start.
Natalie R. Collins: Your ears lead to your vocal cords?
Evan Hunter: Yep, it's all connected up there. An ENT man examines your
ears, your throat, your nose. ENT means ears, nose, throat. At least it does to
me.
Natalie R. Collins: This is a serious subject, and it had to have been
hard to relive it again, in writing the book. Did you find yourself pained by
the memories?
Dina Hunter: Toward the end, while I was writing the last few pages, I
found myself slowing down because they were so painful.
Evan Hunter: It was painful throughout for me, but I¹m used to writing
about painful experiences, so I think it was a little easier than on
Dina.
Dina Hunter: But this is more than a medical treatise. It tells about how
we met, married, and dealt with the sudden problems facing us.
Rob Holden: Barbara Delinsky, who we chatted with this month as well, is
a survivor of two separate bouts with breast cancer, and she revealed to us that
she lived with it as a secret for years before she "came out of the closet" with
her book UPLIFT. When you first found out Evan, did you keep it a
secret?
Evan Hunter: No. We told our friends the moment we learned my larynx had
to be removed. We threw a party, in fact!
Rob Holden: A party? ONLY you would throw a party!
Dina Hunter: We needed support, and we turned to our friends for that.
There were many tears, but laughter as well. We had a party because we couldn't
find the courage to tell our friends on the phone.
Natalie R. Collins: The laughter is probably what got you through a
terrifying ordeal.
Evan Hunter: Laughter is wonderful therapy.
Natalie R. Collins: Evan and Dina, one of our staff members, Robin, was
recently diagnosed with cancer, and has been undergoing treatment. She had a
question she would like to ask you. "Most of us find ourselves surprised by this
unexpected bump in "Our Road." Cancer is still a word that frightens me. It has
been 5 months since it was first mentioned. Mr. McBain, when you were at a very
low point in your illness/treatment, what was the ONE thing that could always
make you smile? A friends voice, a Steve Martin movie, a picnic in bed, throwing
ginger snaps out the car window? Do you have any advice on how one would find
such an outlet during this difficult time?"
Dina Hunter: For me it was knowing that Evan's love for me never
changed.
Evan Hunter: For me it was knowing that all I’d lost was my larynx.
Everything else was the same. And I found salvation in my work. Besides, you
know, it's either cancer or us -- and we'd better win!
Rob Holden: So yours was "it could have been a lot worse"
attitude?
Evan Hunter: It can still be. A doctor warned us, "You can never turn
your back on cancer." We just look at cancer as the bad guys. Them or us. And
they're the ones who have to go.
Rob Holden: That was my next question. How did your illness affect your
work -- or did it?
Evan Hunter: Not at all. I finished Hark! -- the new 8-7. Dina and
I finished Let's Talk. I'm now working on another 8-7.
Dina Hunter: It was difficult when we came home from the hospital. An
entirely new world.
Rob Holden: How so, Dina?
Dina Hunter: A lot of sadness. The house became silent. We did not laugh
very much during this period.
Natalie R. Collins: How long did this last?
Dina Hunter: Six months at least. Until we got through an intense period
of home care, and the start of radiation, which was a step forward. Actually the
radiation started about 3 months after surgery.
Rob Holden: To both of you: Did you find actually sitting down and
writing Let's Talk to be a cathartic experience -- or was it more
something that you simply felt you had to do?
Evan Hunter: Cathartic. Instructive. It's amazing how little you know
about cancer while you're in the middle of the gathering storm. That's what one
of the sections is called, by the way. THE GATHERING STORM.
Natalie R. Collins: At what point did you both start to feel that maybe
you were "out of the woods," or at least on your way out?
Evan Hunter: When the radiologist said I was now cancer-free.
Rob Holden: And when was that?
Evan Hunter: Sometime last November.
Natalie R. Collins: It's a huge relief to hear that.
Dina Hunter: You know, while we were going through all this, I felt I had
to be strong day and night. When I started writing my sections of the book, I
felt I could finally allow myself to feel the pain.
Natalie R. Collins: So you finally went through the grief stage, when
before you had no choice but to be strong?
Dina Hunter: Yes, the grief.
Rob Holden: Dina, has the grief passed yet?
Dina Hunter: Yes, the grief is behind us. We look forward to the future.
Life is beautiful again.
Evan Hunter:You know, cancer can only be held at bay. It cannot be cured.
One has to keep checking and checking, or one can get ambushed.
Rob Holden: So though you are cancer free, you are still in the
fight.
Evan Hunter: Yes, the fight continues. It would be a lie to believe
otherwise. But the last section of the book is titled AND FOR MY NEXT NUMBER,
and that's the way we both feel.
Rob Holden: Evan -- what do you hope will be accomplished when Let's
Talk is published. Having spoken with you a few times about the book, I
KNOW that this wasn't written to earn a paycheck.
Evan Hunter: Paycheck first. Let’s Talk took eight months to write
on spec. Next: help for those out there who suddenly have to look cancer in its
ugly face.
Dina Hunter: I wish I’d had such a book when all this happened to us. I
wish I’d known all about losing the larynx, the care that lay ahead, how one
deals with such a loss. I wish I’d known that at the end we could emerge
unchanged and whole again. At the time, I thought life would never be the same
for us.
Evan Hunter: But now it is.
Rob Holden: And now ... it is on to The Next Number!
Evan Hunter: Find a publisher, which may not be easy. There's a lot on
the McBain plate, and publishers tend to wear blinders. But we will find
one.
Rob Holden: Evan and Dina -- this hasn't been the most fun we've ever had
in a chat with you, but I think it was important that we do this, and thank you
both so much for being so honest about this.
Evan Hunter: Thanks for asking such terrific questions. As always.
Cancer's nothing to hide. It’s something to defeat.
Rob Holden: Next month, we will return to our regular format, and discuss
a topic suggested by our readers.
Evan Hunter: Any idea what that might be? How about the cure and
prevention of hangnails?
Rob Holden: I have that! Bite your nails daily!
Natalie R. Collins: Filthy habit!
Rob Holden: Before we end this, Evan -- if there were one piece of advice
you or Dina could give to anyone battling any form of cancer, what would it
be?
Dina Hunter: Get informed. Stay informed. Never turn your back on
it.
Evan Hunter: Don't let it stop you from living your life.
Natalie R. Collins: Great advice.
Rob Holden: Dina, thank you SO much for joining us here today. And Evan,
we will see you next month!
Dina Hunter: It was great talking to you again. Thanks so much.
Evan Hunter: See you next month!
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