Imagine undergoing chemotherapy for your fourth bout with cancer while at the same time fighting for your reputation and career and defending yourself from a federal indictment. Big story on
melanoma-survivor Patrica Dunn in the
Washington Post yesterday. Not the kind of story someone necessarily would want to be in since it's regarding the
HP spying scandal, but I thought it was interesting.
From "
A Lifelong Fighter's Toughest Round" in the Post:
Circumstances required Dunn to be self-reliant from an early age, her friends and business associates said, and her diligence and willingness to learn delivered her from poverty to the top echelons of business. That same tenacity and conviction may have provoked the ire of her enemies on the HP board, who say her strong sense of mission -- plug the leak -- led her down an unethical path.
Now she must rely on that same tough quality to survive her two-front battle. She surrendered to authorities yesterday and, after a three-minute court hearing in which she agreed to return Nov. 17 for her arraignment, was released on her own recognizance. Today she will begin chemotherapy for her fourth bout with cancer. She has survived not just ovarian cancer, but also melanoma and breast cancer.
"She's strong," said Alison Davis, who for three years served as chief financial officer when Dunn was chief executive of Barclays Global Investors. "People can be threatened by a strong woman who represents a challenge to their will," she said. "She will stand up to defend herself."
