Author Talk with Lisa Coutu

Join author Lisa Coutu for an engaging conversation about her new book, Communicating Cancer: Strategies for You, Family and Friends. Book Summary: When Lisa went to her first oncology appointment, the last thing she was expecting was to get communication advice. Yet, that’s exactly what her nurse gave her. In that moment, she realized that her life’s work researching and teaching communication might come in very handy over the course of her treatment. It did. In this book, she combines her breast cancer experience and her communication expertise to create clear strategies for navigating the many communication moments you—or someone you love—will experience during cancer treatment. Whether it’s with your spouse, your family, your friends, your colleagues, or your medical team, Lisa offers strategies for how to optimize your interactions. Drawing on her long-studied understanding of communication, she provides succinct summaries of research to support the ideas she proposes. This book is neither a memoir nor a deep dive into communication research. Rather, it is a book that sits at the intersection of life and research, drawing on the most helpful communication research nuggets and Lisa’s own cancer experiences to provide the reader with sound advice on how to navigate sometimes difficult communication encounters. Lisa M. Coutu is a Teaching Professor Emeritus in Communication at the University of Washington in Seattle. She holds both an M.A. and Ph.D. in the Ethnography of Communication, an area of study where anthropology and linguistics meet. Her natural tendency to look at the world through the lens of communication helped her manage and navigate her experience with breast cancer. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, at 47 years old, and has been NED (no evidence of disease) since her initial treatment ended. She has been happily married to her husband, Dan Nichol, for over 30 years. They live in the state of Washington, where they enjoy their retirement. Lisa is doing everything she would have missed if it weren't for her successful breast cancer treatment. She fills her days connecting with family and friends, playing outdoors, being creative, and reveling in her good fortune.