Notable Personalities That had (or currently suffer from) Leukaemia and Lymphoma

Following on from the post about poor Jade Goody's public story about her fight with Cervical cancer, here is a list (not definitive..so if you know others, please let me know!) of celebrities that have been affected by some sort of blood cancer:

* Paul Allen - Co founder of Microsoft

* Gene Autry - Singer/Actor

* Paul Azinger - Golfer

* Jeremy Beadle - Gag/games show host and charity fundraiser (CLL)

* Ed Bradley - CBS News Anchor (60 Minutes)

* Michael Brecker (Leukaemia) - Jazz Saxophonist

* Robin Bush (Leukaemia, age 3) - Daughter of President George H.W. Bush

* Susan Butcher (Leukaemia) - Winner of Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

* John Allan Cameron (Leukaemia, Bone Marrow Cancer) - Celtic Musician

* William Casey - CIA

* Joseph Coors - Adolph Coors Brewing Company

* John Cullen - Hockey Player

* Mark Fields - Football Player

* Andres Galarraga - Baseball Player

* Tim Garton - Swimmer

* Lynden David Hall (Hodgkin's Lymphoma) - Soul Singer

* Anthony Herrera - Actor

* King Hussein - Jordanian King

* Arte Johnson - Actor

* LeShon Johnson - Football Player

* Ray Katt - Baseball Player

* Saku Koivu - Hockey Player

* Mario Lemieux - Hockey Player

* Charles A. Lindbergh - Aviator (Spirit of St Louis)

* Joe Longthorne - Singer, Entertainer (Lymphoma)

* Jeff MacNelly - Cartoonist

* Mickey Mantle, Jr. - Baseball Player

* Roger Maris (Lung Cancer, Lymphoma) - Baseball Player

* Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Nobel Laureate

* Carrie Nye - Actress

* Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma) - First Lady

* Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia) - Shah of Iran

* James Myers - Composer & Co Writer of the Hit song "Rock Around the clock"

* Mala Powers - Actress

* Joey Ramone - Musician/Singer

* Steve Reeves - Athlete/Actor

* Craig Thomas - US Senator

* Paul Tsongas - US Senator

* Mr. T (Laurence Tureaud) (T-Cell Lymphoma) - Actor (The A Team)

* Maisie Walters - Daughter of actress Julie Walters

* Gene Wilder - Comedian and Actor (Willy Wonka)

* Nikos Kazantzakis - Author of the book "Zorba the Greek"

*Terry Nutkins - TV  presenter and Animal Expert

*Nora Ephron - Writer

If you know of any more well know people who have had or currently are fighting blood cancer,let me know ! :-)

Is there such a thing as "Celebrity Cancer" ?

I am sure that we are all (unless you have lived in a cave...or on the moon, for the last few months!) aware of the tragic story of Jade Goody, the 27 year old woman who found fame on Channel 4's Big Brother reality show.
Now diagnosed a having only weeks or months to live, she and her fiancee are due to be wed on Sunday 22nd February 2009.
As much as our hearts go out to Jade, there is a feeling within the cancer community (if there is such a thing!) that the media appears to place much more emphasis and attention on people suffering from "The big C" (as the Sun so creatively put it), if they carry some sort of celebrity status.
This is not just a cheap and arrogant pop at Jade, and in fact, to be fair, she has all the reasons in the world to turn to her advantage any generosity exhibited by the press at this awful time after her mauling not so long ago (at their hands!) after the CBB "racism" fiasco, when she was pretty well given a hell of a bashing by a wide range of journalists as they extracted every last drop of "front page frenzy" in relation to the story.

This is what is posted on various websites:

http://www.whatnow.org.uk/cancer-forums/jade-goody-and-talking-about-cancer-observer-newspaper

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=993095

http://forums.itv.com/806059/ShowThread.aspx

http://www.cancerchat.org.uk/clearspacex/thread/1156

The press it appears are very selective about what they print about cancer stories,every day people are dying from the disease, some a lot poorer and a lot younger than Jade and having had a look around some of the websites on the Internet, it appears that "ordinary folk with cancer" are getting a touch fed up with the media circus that Jade's cancer fight, appears to have become at the hands of the press and sadly the only real winners being the newspapers bank balances !.