Literati with Lyme

On May 19, 2005, internationally acclaimed authors will speak out on Lyme Disease. “Writer’s Block of the Worst Kind: An Open Book on Lyme”. For the first time, four nationally acclaimed authors and an executive editor are sharing the stage with two prominent medical authorities on Lyme for a firsthand account of the disease and its impact on peoples’ lives and livelihoods. Thursday, May 19, 2005, 7-10PM, the Lyme Disease Association (LDA) will host Literati with Lyme, a fundraising event at New York University, entitled “Writer’s Block of the Worst Kind.” The event is featuring Literati who have all had Lyme disease: Amy Tan (The Joy Luck Club and movie); Meg Cabot (The Princess Diaries series and movies); E Jean Carroll (advice columnist for Elle Magazine); Jordan Fisher Smith (Nature Noir: A Park Ranger’s Patrol in the Sierra); and Jennifer Weis (executive editor St. Martin’s Press).

Columbia University Medical Center’s (CUMC) and NY State Psychiatric Institute’s Brian Fallon, MD, and International Lyme & Associated Diseases Society ( ILADS) Director Joseph Burrascano, MD, will participate in the “in conversation” event as the Literati tell the story of how Lyme affects their lives and impacts on their cognitive ability, giving a voice to thousands of Lyme disease victims who suffer in silence. The doctors will discuss the physiological causes of the authors’ often frustrating and sometimes alarming experiences with Lyme. Public question and answer period will follow. Books by participating authors will be on sale at the event with proceeds to the Lyme Disease Association.

To purchase tickets ($20) or get information for the May 19 event, please visit http://www.lymeliterat.org/ Further information about the authors can be found on http://www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org

Literati with Lyme is the brain child of authors Jordan Fisher Smith and Amy Tan, and national Lyme Disease Association President Pat Smith. It is an effort by nationally-known authors, publishers, editors, literary agents, other publishing professionals, and the non-profit LDA to raise awareness of this growing infectious disease threat and to raise research funds for a cure. Literati with Lyme is supported by Columbia University Medical Center, Houghton Mifflin, Milkweed Editions, Penguin Group (USA) Inc., IGeneX Labs, the DEET Education Program, NYU Expository Writing and the School of Social Work, and a growing list of others. Donations to LDA’s Literati with Lyme are tax-deductible and will go to the LDA to support its public education and research efforts on causes and cures of Lyme disease, including the proposed Lyme disease research center at Columbia University Medical Center.

A limited number of tickets are still available for a private benefit reception for LDA hosted by Amy Tan at her Manhattan home. See Literati website for registration details.