Kelly Corrigan

It was a total shock to the system when Kelly Corrigan, a happily married mother of two young daughters discovered a cancerous lump in her breast at age 36. While undergoing treatment, she learned her beloved father George had late-stage cancer. As her life turned upside down, all at once she became the cared for and the caregiver.

A natural born storyteller, Corrigan recounts her experience in The New York Times best-selling The Middle Place. She speaks about her journey of healing when it became her turn to take care of the man who had always cared for her. She reveals how she became a woman who finally took the leap and grew up – facing down mortality while enduring family dynamics and her own complicated health issues.

With wrenching honesty, poignancy, and a dose of humor, she explores "the middle place – that sliver of time when parenthood and childhood overlap before a parent's illness hurls you into full-fledged adulthood and the realization of your parents' mortality as well as your own."

Corrigan’s most recent book is Lift, a stirring, affirming story of a young family in crisis. Written in the form of a letter to her children, Lift weaves together three true stories of adults willing to chance terrible loss in search of the joys of raising children.

Healthy and returning to her work as a journalist, Corrigan has become an advocate for cancer awareness and supporting those dealing with cancer, founding the website Circus of Cancer where she truthfully captures the breast cancer experience and offers inspiration for others.