Carol Silverander

Carol Silverander lost a heroic decade-long battle with breast cancer on June 27, 2008. Carol was a woman of many accomplishments. A talented professional photographer and photojournalist, she was a pioneer in the field of social documentary photography, traveling the world making a visual record of different cultures, and teaching the concepts she developed at the University of Arizona. Her widespread interests and entrepreneurial spirit led her to found EthnoGraphics, a nationally recognized multicultural greeting card company that grew to publish the work of more than 70 individual artists.

After being diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer in 2000, Carol sold EthnoGraphics in order to concentrate on fighting her disease. Addressing that effort with an optimism and determination uniquely her own, she became a strong advocate for cancer patients being actively involved in their own care, while seeking effective complementary treatment.

Initially told that she would live for just two years, Carol enjoyed more than eight years of good health, travel, and the loving companionship of family and friends. Throughout it all, she was devoted to helping people see cancer as a chronic condition that can be managed, instead of an immediate death sentence. In 2005, Carol wrote a book about living with advanced breast cancer. Now in its second printing, Carol’s book has helped hundreds of people to face a diagnosis of cancer with the courage and hopefulness that she embodied.

She is survived by her husband, Michael Silverander of Santa Barbara, California; son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Lisa Romano of Bend, Oregon; daughter Kim Romano of Brooklyn, New York; son David Silverander of Mountain View, California; twin sister and brother-in-law Cheryl and Leonard Karp of Tucson, Arizona; sister Nancy Davison of Tucson, Arizona; brother and sister-in-law Vernon and Ann Davison of San Leandro, California; and sister Patricia Matter of Seattle, Washington.

The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.