| From the desk of Dr Magne, author of Cancer Free | | | | Genetics Foundation. Drazen lives in a spacious |
| For Life | | | | apartment in Manhattan. At her side is a walker that |
| From the desk of Dr Magne, author of Cancer Free | | | | she's used ever since fracturing her neck in a fall |
| For LifeRuth Yorkin Drazen was 69 when her | | | | three years ago. Her mental agility is boundless, |
| husband died of prostate cancer. She thought she'd | | | | however, and she talks with a confidence and verve |
| be terrified when he died, only to experience an | | | | that borders on saucy. Her 28-year husband's |
| entirely different emotion. "It was his having a way | | | | struggle with cancer, and the elements of care he |
| out to peace," says Drazen, now 88. "And if you love | | | | received at the hospital, served as a catalyst for her |
| someone, you don't want them to suffer." | | | | foray into filmmaking, but the roots of her interest in |
| His passing, and the realization that so many people | | | | dealing with life and death go back futher, she says. |
| were consumed with fear at the thought of death, | | | | "I think that was the force of my filmmaking," she |
| led Drazen to launch an entirely new career in her | | | | says. "Because in reality, I've been looking for her." |
| early 70s: documentary filmmaking. Her first feature, | | | | "The Choice is Yours," a documentary she produced |
| "On the Edge of Being: When Doctors Confront | | | | a few years ago, looked at the life and philosophy of |
| Cancer," described doctors' personal journeys as | | | | Viktor Frankl, a psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor |
| patients. And she didn't stop there. In April, PBS will | | | | who promoted the belief that man's primary |
| air Yorkin's fifth film in 13 years _ a look at the life of | | | | motivational force is his search for meaning. The |
| composer Gustav Mahler. The film is not only a | | | | award-winning film includes footage of Frankl's |
| combination of many subjects that interest Drazen _ | | | | lectures as well as interviews with physicians and |
| psychology, philosophy, religion and music. It's also a | | | | patients who have endured cancer and other |
| tribute to the beauty of life, something Drazen | | | | diseases. "It's possible for people to have a medical |
| believes many fail to appreciate. "Heal the world _ | | | | problem and still have a good life," she says. "It is |
| that's what my intention is," she says. "And I feel so | | | | possible to turn the most negative experiences into |
| lucky that I'm here to do that." | | | | something positive, and that's what we need to do |
| Drazen was born in Washington, Pa., the oldest of | | | | more of and be less self-centered." |
| three children in a middle-class family. Her parents | | | | Her upcoming film explores the role of music in |
| exposed her to music early on, taking her to | | | | healing and how the composer turned to music to |
| concerts in Pittsburgh as a child and encouraging her | | | | deal with often-hard circumstances. Drazen said she |
| piano studies. She went on to study piano at The | | | | first became an ardent Mahler fan in her early 20s, |
| Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Her first marriage | | | | after hearing some of his music and being |
| ended in divorce, partly due to the stress of the | | | | overwhelmed. "I think he's my soulmate," she says of |
| death of the couple's baby boy. The child, Anton, | | | | the Austrian composer, who died in 1911. "His life is so |
| died of a rare genetic disorder before he turned 1. | | | | troubled and he never gives up. That's something I |
| Her grief over her son sparked Drazen's interest in | | | | adore about him. Whenever I hurt, I go for him. He |
| curing genetic illnesses. She spent years working for | | | | helps remind me that this, too, shall pass. |
| the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the National | | | | |