A STAT reporter’s final story is about lung cancer in never-smokers. She died from the disease days after filing the report.
“Sharon touched so many with her journalism, and even in her final days she was at the top of her game.''
In her final report for STAT, science writer Sharon Begley examined the rising incidence of lung cancer in people who had never smoked.Though she never directly mentioned it in the article, it was a story she was living, having been diagnosed with lung cancer in July 2020. Begley died Jan. 16, just five days after she completed her article and filed it with her editor.In her final report, which was published Tuesday by STAT, Begley lays out for readers that while cigarette smoking remains the single greatest cause of lung cancer, a growing proportion of people developing the disease are “never-smokers.”One doctor told the senior science writer that it has been “well-documented” that about 20 percent of lung cancer cases that occur in women in the United States — and 9 percent in men — are diagnosed in people who had never smoked.“Worldwide, 15% of male lung cancer patients are never-smokers,” Begley wrote. “But fully half of female lung cancer patients never smoked. And women never-smokers are twice as likely to develop lung cancer as men who never put a cigarette to their lips.”Given the increased incidents, experts told the reporter the criteria for lung cancer screening needs to be re-evaluated and more investment is needed in studying the disease in never-smokers.Since the story’s publication, those who knew Begley have hailed the acclaimed science writer for sharing her sharp insights even after her passing.The article was “one last gift from the remarkable and beloved” writer, STAT co-founder and executive editor Rick Berke wrote on Twitter.In 2015, when Berke was searching for top science journalists to staff the fledgling start-up publication, Begley’s name was reportedly on everyone’s list of recommended hires.
(Boston.com and STAT are both part of Boston Globe Media Partners.)
It is with deep sadness that I share that my mother, Sharon, passed away earlier today, January 16th, in Boston, due to complications from lung cancer.
Please comment with your own thoughts, memories, or stories about Sharon. pic.twitter.com/fIGW2FRuET
— sharon begley (@sxbegle) January 17, 2021
Reacting to her death, former and current colleagues spoke with love and admiration for the 64-year-old, whose award-winning career spanned 43 years.
“When I was starting out as a science journalist, and maybe equally important as a female science journalist in what was then a very male dominated profession, she was an incredible inspiration to me and my peers… she was so good, so thoughtful a reporter, someone who could do a serious investigation while never forgetting that the people in the story mattered,” Deborah Blum, the director of MIT’s Knight Science Journalism Program, told STAT for Begley’s obituary earlier this month.
And thank you to so many of her friends, family members, and colleagues, who shared so many amazing memories of her at such a rough time. https://t.co/COhFcpFvbJ
— Eric Boodman (@EricBoodman) January 18, 2021
Begley began her career at Newsweek in 1977, working several stretches at the publication through the years as a science editor and science columnist. She also spent time as a science columnist at The Wall Street Journal and as the senior health and science correspondent at Reuters. She wrote four books, two co-authored and two written solo.
She leaves behind her husband, Ned Groth, her two children, and her sister.
About her last piece, Groth wrote a note to Berke, which was shared with Boston.com, that while he hadn’t read the story before her passing, he knew how much work she put into it, even as her own health failed.
“From my listening post across the room she was still the same sharp reporter and writer as ever, though her energy and ability to concentrate were flagging,” Groth wrote. “She struggled to finish it and was so happy when she filed it with you. I’m hoping in your judgment it is good enough to publish in its current state, or with your essential editing. Sharon probably would not have settled for ‘good enough’ but it’s out of Sharon’s hands at this point. Given the subject matter I hope you share my sense that, if this proves to be the last thing she ever published, how fitting that would be.”
In a statement to Boston.com, Berke shared that “literally millions of people” have read Begley’s final story.
“Sharon touched so many with her journalism, and even in her final days she was at the top of her game,” he said.
Read her last story here.
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