Girls of Cancer: Miss July

Geralyn Lucas

The authorities in China would be pissed if they did a Google image search for Geralyn Lucas. She can be found completely topless on the first results page. No porno terms needed. I just made the day of my teenage male readers. And for everyone else—I swear I’m not a perv.

Geralyn did a topless photo shoot for Self some years back while promoting her book, Why I Wore Lipstick. She was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was relatively young, twenty-seven years old, and had a mastectomy to remove the tumor. Her nipple was taken as part of the surgery, and she considered getting a cosmetic replacement but instead went with a tattoo where her nipple used to be. Though I’m not condoning using the internet to view naked pictures, for those boys who just now reconsidered Googling her, shame on you! People come in all colors and sizes, and discrimination will not be tolerated simply because Geralyn lacks a nipple.

Her memoir was recommended to me when I was querying literary agents. There are about a million cancer memoirs, but she was sort of famous (a producer for 20/20), and her book had recently been released and sold fairly well. The opening scene is captivating. Geralyn visits a strip club for the first time in her life as she grapples with the decision whether or not to get a mastectomy. The other 180 pages are a cryfest. You can purchase it on Amazon for $10.94 if you’re into that sort of thing. And no, her topless photo cannot be found in her book. That can be seen without dropping 11 bucks.

Geralyn has been cancer-free for over ten years. She is married with two children, lives in New York, and works as an executive at Lifetime Television, which, in 2006, aired a film version of her book. If my book ever turns into a Lifetime movie, feel free to punch me in the neck.