Question.
Today I received an email from a colleague, somebody who helped my theater company figure out a long-term strategic plan a few years back (abridged):
Hello my friends –
A great artist needs your help. Jo Carson is in the midst of a pitched battle with colon cancer, and is beset by a common American problem: utterly inadequate health insurance.
Jo is the author of Headwaters and more than 30 community story plays, she’s the award-winning playwright of Daytrips and many other plays for the American theater, and she’s the author of several books including Spider Speculations: A Physics and Biophysics of Storytelling. As one of the founders of Alternate ROOTS, Jo has inspired me and thousands of other artists and cultural workers to connect with our communities in surprising and meaningful ways.
Jo has been a self-supporting artist for more than 30 years. Since quality, affordable health insurance is extremely difficult for independent contract workers like artists to obtain, the insurance coverage Jo has is insufficient to her current need – her policy will cover surgery, but not the extensive chemotherapy and radiation she is currently under-going.
What I’m stunned by is whatever socio-cultural need we’ve instilled in ourselves to list Jo Carson’s accomplishments to let us know why she’s deserving of adequate health care.
Why do we have to eulogize a woman like Jo Carson in order to save her?
Creative Control 