One Read pick to provide variety of programming

From a documentary about segregated hospitals in Kansas City and a presentation on medical experimentation in the Third Reich during World War II to a flash fiction contest and a series of "Ragtime Sundays" radio broadcasts, this year's One Read program has something for everyone.

One Read Task Force member Mary Ann Beahon said this year's One Read pick, Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," generates a number of good discussion topics, including science and ethics, family dynamics and the history of racism in the United States.

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" tells the story of how tissue samples taken from Lacks while she was dying of cancer in 1951 were used to create the first lab-grown human cells, and the impact that had on the medical field and on Lacks' family - who did not know what the doctors had done until decades later.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.