Betty Rollin

Betty Rollin is the author of seven books, including First, You Cry, a moving story - the first of its kind - about her breast cancer and mastectomy. Published in 1976, and re-published in 2000 in honor of the author's 25th "cancer anniversary,” it received wide critical acclaim and was made into a television movie starring Mary Tyler Moore as Rollin. Her newest book,, will be published by Random House in April, 2007.

Her bestseller Last Wish, published in 1985 and republished in 1998, deals with the suicide of her terminally ill mother. One critic called it "a document of personal compassion and public importance." The book has been published in 18 foreign countries and was made into a TV movie, starring Patty Duke and Maureen Stapleton.

Rollin originally began her career in journalism when she joined NBC in 1972 as a reporter for the newsmagazine, Chronolog and she was the on-air theater critic for WNBC-TV, New York. She later created and anchored a series of NBC News's special programs for and about women, Women Like Us. In 1973, she was named a correspondent for NBC News. In this position, she reported on human-interest stories, which remain her main focus as a journalist. In 1982, she became a contributing correspondent for Nightline. She left that position to write Last Wish and returned to NBC News in 1984.

Prior to her television career, Rollin was an associate feature editor and staff writer for Vogue magazine. Following that, she became a senior editor for Look magazine, where she remained until the publication was discontinued in 1971. She has contributed articles to many national magazines, including The New York Times where she was also a “Hers” columnist.