Sand Castles

About the Book

Sand Castles: a collection of writings by Aline Dorothy Gross, who died of cancer, at age 24, in 1980. At that time she was a graduate student in biochemistry at Cornell. It includes diary entries, letters, reflections on contemporaries and culture, and poetry. Beginning at age 14, she was treated for Hodgkin’s disease, eventually with success; but in the end she died of treatment-induced cancer. Despite the catastrophe, she managed to become an honor student at Yale, a promising biochemist, an athlete, and a writer of growing sophistication and power. These selections, assembled by her father, tell the story—primarily in her own eloquent words. It transcends the fate of one young woman: this story is about facing calamity with courage, wit, self-respect, and intelligence.

About the Author

Paul R. Gross is University Professor of Life Sciences, emeritus, University of Virginia. He was Vice President and Provost of the university, Director of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, and is author of books, monographs, and articles on science, education, and basic research in molecular biology. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His most recent book is (with Barbara Forrest) Creationism’s Trojan Horse (Oxford, 2007).