Years before she was diagnosed with cancer, Miriam Engelberg had planned on creating comics featuring her life as a mother. Instead, at the age of 43, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she used cartooning as a way to cope with the shock of diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy, support groups, and a second cancer diagnosis. A collection of her comics can be found in Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person: A Memoir in Comics.

Reviewers described her book as "a fusion of the deadly serious with the absurd, in the finest tradition of black humor." Readers described her book as an insider's humor for survivors -- funny, heartbreaking and totally relatable in her refreshing take on living with cancer.

The world has lost some of its humor and light and spirit today with the loss of Miriam Engelberg. She took the mundane moments and the challenging trials of breast cancer and through her delightful perspective, encouraged us to see the lighter side. She exposed our private and sometimes silly thoughts and gave us a chance to laugh at ourselves.

There is nothing funny about cancer. It is scary. It is heavy. It is dark. It is full of terror and it steals lives. But, through Miriam's extraordinary talent with pen and ink and cartoon conversation bubbles, we were somehow allowed a brief reprieve from the grim reality of the frightening struggle to survive a profane and inequitable disease that ordinary time makes impossible to escape. In the company of her delicious creativity, we found solace from and in our all too real and immediate reality.

Gina, a close friend whom Miriam trusted to continue her online mail and weekly cartoon publication after she entered hospice care, wrote this evening, "Miriam had her family and close friends with her and was not in a coma. As far as I can tell, she didn't suffer and was spared the intense pain many go through with cancer. I like to think the love, humor and good karma she shared with everyone protected her from the worst aspects of dying."

Our hearts are broken for the loss of the transcending spirit that will always be uniquely Miriam Engelberg. Our hearts are broken for the undefinable loss her family and close friends will endure in her passing from this life. Tonight, our laughter is muffled in a far away place, with Miriam. A part of who we are has gone, with Miriam. In the morning, we will keep her love, humor and good karma close to us in everlasting memory of Miriam. Tonight is full of tears.

Five years ago, when Michael Dunn's seven-year-old son Steven woke one morning with a swollen left eye, he took him to the emergency room thinking they would come home with eye drops for Steven. Instead, Steven became the 33rd known case of rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer striking soft body tissue, that had no long-term survivors over the age of 20.

Enter artist Connie Douglas. While doing some work in the Dunn home, she was in awe of Steven's spirit as he battled cancer that would most likely steal his life before he reached adulthood. Inspired by Steven, she contacted Phoenix Children's Hospital, with a proposal to create and donate artwork for the children who visited or stayed at the hospital.

The art project turned into nine wall story panels, and within each painted panel are hidden Shnnoogles. A Shnnoogle, which stands for caring and sharing, hugging and snuggling, giving in goodness and action, are furry snowball creatures with big round eyes. As children look at the panels, they search for the hidden Shnnoogles.

While Douglas was painting the panels, she was diagnosed with MS. To be equally inspired by Arizona Republic Kathleen Quilligan's feature Artist hopes Shnnoogles bring comfort to hospitalized kids, to find out how Steven and Connie are doing, and the book she plans to write, go here.

Internationally-known celebrity tattoo artist Mario Barth of Starlight Tattoo has announced a $1 million dollar challenge to local businesses and people in the northern New Jersey community to help raise money to benefit the CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation for childhood cancers.

The Starlight Tattoo website has published statistics that in the last 20 years, the incidence of childhood cancer has grown nearly 27 percent, and scientists and researchers have been unable to account for the increase, or even why cancer in children occur. Barth, who is a father, says "Children are our future. We need to take care of them and nurture them, and show every child of every means that people really do care. Childhood should be a time of learning and fun, not pain and struggle. Every little bit helps."

Barth is a tattoo artist to celebrities including Lenny Kravitz, Jason Kid, members of the Wu Tang Clan, Nikki Six of Motley Crue, members of My Chemical Romance, members of Il Nino, radio host Wendy Williams, comedian Rich Voss and NFL Giants players Jermaine Taylor, Kendrick Allen and David Diehl.

The winner of over 200 international awards for innovative trends, Barth is a consultant and practitioner for Hackensack Cosmetic Surgeons for reconstructive micro pigmentation on cancer patients. He invented and created a series of special inks for use in reconstructive surgery to help patients adjust with a more natural dermal appearance after major operations. To learn more about Barth and Starlight Tattoo, and how to donate to a worthy cause in fighting childhood cancers, visit the Starlight Tattoo website.

The Chronic Survival Tour: Shedding Light on Lung Cancer features the world-renowned fantasy art of Tom Cross, his battle with lung cancer, education about lung cancer and as a benefit to raise money for advocacy groups such as the Lung Cancer Online Foundation. The nationwide traveling exhibit of original art, prints and books featuring fairies, wizards, elves and mermaids created by Cross, is a way to share his lung cancer survivorship and to shed light on the misinformation about lung cancer that dominates common perception for one of the deadliest cancers.

Diagnosed in 2003, Cross is not a smoker but feels the stigma associated with being a lung cancer patient when people hold the opinion that lung cancer is a self-inflicted disease -- a karma of bad habit. Cross hopes his art and his touring exhibit can change the minds of the community.

Cross states, "It is my hope that through my art, participation in lung cancer awareness organizations and activities, and events such as this, that some small difference may be made to bring hope and someday a cure to this and all cancer afflictions." Cross is an artist, author, ecologist and designer. His work is exquisite. You can purchase his art online at The Wondrous Worlds of Tom Cross.

South Beach, FL Producer/Recording Artist Sandra Grace is donating part of the proceeds of her new CD "Do You Have A Lover?" to breast cancer research and awareness in honor of her mother, aunt, and some dear friends who have survived breast cancer and inspired the music on the album. She will personally autograph and mail out each CD ordered from her website in July 2006. The CD sells for $9.99.

As for the music, "Do You Have A Lover?" can best be described as Madonna meets Fran Drescher! It's a good work-out album: electronica with dance and progressive house influence, and a pop ballad snuck in for cool-down. I know I for one can use a new work out CD to exercise to. To get an advance copy of "Do You Have A Lover?", please visit her website here. 

Sandra Grace was just recently featured on the cover of  Express, a South Florida newspaper, with Lily Tomlin and George Bush!

Each year, for the last five years, Nelly, Grammy Award-winning platinum recording American Hip Hop artist, has been hosting a week of festivities across the country to help raise funds for his foundation 4Sho4Kids. Founded in 2001, 4Sho4Kids is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children with developmental disabilities, children born with Down Syndrome and children born addicted to drugs. This year, 4Sho4Kids has partnered with the Richmond Braves to host a celebrity baseball game and 75 children from the VCU Pediatric Oncology Center have been invited to attend as special VIP guests where, as the foundation states -- they can have a day of no worries on them. The 4Sho4Kids has a marrow registry campaign called Jes Us 4 Jackie, to educate African-Americans and Blacks about the need for bone marrow and stem cell transplant. Bone marrow and stem cell transplants often make all the difference in surviving blood cancers like leukemia.

In 2001, Nelly's sister Jacqueline Donahue was diagnosed with leukemia. In 2003, Nelly and Jackie started the Jes Us 4 Jackie campaign, a search for a bone marrow donor. They were unable to find a matching donor in time for Jackie, who died last year from complications of leukemia. However, in the search, the foundation was able to find matches for others, including two children from Jackie's hometown of St. Louis. Nelly has continued charity work related to cancer in her memory.

In honor of Earth Day and to benefit The Breast Cancer Site, Peter Max has designed a t-shirt with the same stunning brilliance of color and original graphic design that has made Max and his art famous.

The Earth Day Peter Max T-Shirt is a limited-edition, specially licensed, Earth Day-themed design. Max, an artist of multi-dimensional and unique creative talent, is a socially-aware human being who is dedicated to making this world a better place to live.

The Breast Cancer Site of The GreaterGood stores donates a portion of the purchase price of each Earth Day Peter Max T-Shirt to fund mammograms for women in need. To learn more about the visionary psychedelic pop artist Peter Max, and view his art, visit the official Peter Max website.