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Carter and cancer

August 20, 2015 - Atlanta - Former President Jimmy Carter discusses his cancer diagnosis at the Carter Center Thursday. The 90-year-old announced he had cancer after doctors removed small masses from his liver earlier this month. BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Christopher Quinn

Credit: Christopher Quinn

August 20, 2015 - Atlanta - Former President Jimmy Carter discusses his cancer diagnosis at the Carter Center Thursday. The 90-year-old announced he had cancer after doctors removed small masses from his liver earlier this month. BOB ANDRES / BANDRES@AJC.COM
By Christopher Quinn
Aug 20, 2015

Former President Jimmy Carter, with his iconic smile, told the world what family and close friends in Plains, Georgia, learned from him last week.

The cancer that he talked about more than a week ago is melanoma, and it has spread to his brain.

That's the bad news. The good news is, great strides have been made in treating melanoma in recent years.

With grace and patience, he sat alone at a table at Atlanta's Carter Center, and spoke precisely about what he knows, about coming treatment, about his plans to continue the good work The Carter Center does and even fielded questions about his best and worst moments as president.

Meanwhile, friends to whom Carter had already delivered the news in Plains watched from the Buffalo Cafe.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution continues to follow this story with updates throughout the day and weekend. Check in at myAJC.com for subscribers or AJC.com for others.

About the Author

Christopher Quinn is a writer and editor who has worked for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1999. He writes stories on Veterans Affairs, business including high-tech growth in metro Atlanta, Georgia's $72 billion farm economy, and he oversees assigning and editing news obituaries.

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