[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15656]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      JACKIE COLLINS: TRAILBLAZER

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. MICHAEL G. FITZPATRICK

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, October 5, 2015

  Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, Jackie Collins said she had lived life 
like Frank Sinatra. ``Looking back, I'm not sorry about anything I did. 
I did it my way, as Frank Sinatra would say,'' said the bestselling 
author, in a magazine interview shortly before she passed away, 
September 19, 2015, two weeks before her 78th birthday. She had been 
diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer more than six years before her 
death but kept her illness almost entirely to herself. She reportedly 
only informed her sister, Joan, two weeks before she died. Jackie wrote 
five books since the initial diagnosis. She continued to travel all 
over the world and never turned down a book tour. She flew from Los 
Angeles to London to appear on a TV chat show only nine days before her 
death. She refused to let her cancer define her.
  October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month--a time to recognize breast 
cancer as the most common cancer among women and to honor those 
fighters, survivors and families it impacts. Best-selling author Jackie 
Collins was among those fighters.
  While Collins' name might be one we recognize, her story of struggle 
and perseverance is universal. Women from across our nation and around 
the globe battle breast cancer every day. In fact, The American Cancer 
Society's estimates nearly 300,000 new cases of breast cancer will be 
diagnosed in the United States this year; resulting in over 40,000 
deaths. That equates to one woman out of every eight women receiving 
this dreadful diagnosis. And for them the battle will not end when 
October ends.
  As the son and brother of breast cancer survivors, I understand the 
importance of breast cancer awareness beyond the pink ribbons. We must 
support doctors and nurses as they provide the care and comfort for 
those it effects. In Congress, our leaders must prioritize funding for 
ground breaking research and enact common-sense measures to increase 
availability of and access to life-saving screenings. Jackie Collins 
was listed as the UK's fifth richest author and in 2013 she was 
appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
  The fight against breast cancer extends to all of us. No one is 
immune. Jackie was considered an inspiration and a trail blazer for 
women in fiction. A mother of three daughters and grandmother of six, 
Collins said her family had always been her greatest love. ``I love 
being with my family . . . and watching my grandkids play.'' This 
Breast Cancer Awareness Month we remember those fighters--like Jackie 
Collins--mothers, grandmothers, aunts and sisters. We celebrate 
survivors and we recommit to combatting--and ultimately defeating--this 
disease.

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