Lucinda Margaret Grealy (June 3, 1963 – December 18, 2002) was an Irish-American poet and memoirist who wrote ''

Autobiography of a Face ''Autobiography of a Face'' is a memoir by Lucy Grealy in which she narrates her life before and after being diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma. The memoir describes her life from the age of nine to adulthood. In this memoir, she narrates the conseq ...

'' in 1994. This critically acclaimed book describes her childhood and early adolescent experience with cancer of the jaw, which left her with some facial disfigurement. In a 1994 interview with Charlie Rose conducted right before she rose to the height of her fame, Grealy stated that she considered her book to be primarily about the issue of "identity."

Life

Grealy was born in Dublin, Ireland, and her family moved to the United States in April 1967, settling in Spring Valley, New York. She was diagnosed at age 9 with a rare form of cancer called Ewing's sarcoma. Treatment for this often fatal cancer (Grealy reports an estimated 5% survival rate using therapies available at the time of her diagnosis) led to the removal of her jawbone, and over the following years she had many facial reconstructive surgeries. In her memoir, ''Autobiography of a Face'', Grealy describes her life from the time of her diagnosis and how she weathered the cruelty of schoolmates and others, suffering taunts and stares from strangers. At 18, Grealy entered

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...

where she made her first real friends and nurtured her love of poetry. She graduated in 1985 and went on to study at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. In Iowa she lived with fellow writer Ann Patchett. Their friendship is the subject of Patchett's 2004 memoir '' Truth and Beauty: A Friendship''. In 1991, she was awarded a Bunting Fellowship at the

Radcliffe Institute The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...

for Independent Study, where she completed her memoir. In 1995, the book won Grealy a

Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays. The award is sponsored by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation Mrs. (American English) or Mrs (British English; standard E ...

, given to young writers of exceptional talent. She published a collection of essays in 2000, ''As Seen on TV: Provocations''. She taught writing at Bennington College and New School University. Following her final reconstructive surgery, Grealy became dependent upon her prescribed painkiller, OxyContin, as she had earlier with

codeine Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and diarrhea. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug. It is found naturally in the sap of the opium poppy, ''Papaver somniferum''. It is typically use ...

. She died of a heroin overdose on December 18, 2002, in New York City, at age 39. Her sister, Suellen Grealy, was opposed to Ann Patchett's timing in publishing ''Truth and Beauty''. While she claims that Patchett and the book's publisher Harper Collins stole the Grealy family's right to grieve privately, she acknowledges that "Ann was a far better 'sister' to Lucy than I could ever have been".

Awards

* 1995

Lucy Grealy won several prizes for her poetry, among them the Sonora Review Prize, the London TLS poetry prize and two Academy of American Poets awards.

Works

* ''Everyday Alibis'', a chapbook of poems * ** (Renamed British edition of ''Autobiography of a Face'') *

Anthologies

* *

Essays

References

External links

Lucy Grealy interview with Charlie RoseProfile at The Whiting Foundation
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grealy, Lucinda Margaret 1963 births 2002 deaths Irish emigrants to the United States American essayists 20th-century American memoirists American autobiographers Deaths by heroin overdose in New York (state) Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni Sarah Lawrence College alumni Bennington College faculty People from Spring Valley, New York 20th-century essayists Drug-related deaths in New York City Women memoirists