Skloot: The Life Story Of Henrietta Lacks

When Skloot includes segments of her personal experiences, she allows the reader to see the journey of gathering information. Having to rely on what little documentation was available to her, Skloot relied on relatives to provide the life story of Henrietta Lacks. {1} Information was gathered by “conduct[ing] multiple interviews with multiple sources to ensure accuracy” (Skloot XIV). Without including the personal experience, the reader could never see how Skloot interacted with her interviewees and the Lacks family. How countless descendants denied Skloot of an interview, or how people who knew Henrietta didn’t dare speak her story without the permission of the family. One of these encounters occurred with Courtney Speed, after Skloot found her way to Turner’s Station. {3}{5} When Skloot mentioned she was trying to get into contact them, Courtney dejectedly responded, “‘I can’t tell you anything until you got the support of the [Lacks] family. I can’t risk that’” (Skloot 73). Courtney continues, ‘“I’ll tell you everything I know…just as soon as you talk to the family and they say it’s okay. I don’t want any more problems’” (Skloot 74). With the overwhelming lack of interviewees willing to share Henrietta’s story, collecting research was no easy task for Skloot.