Carter and cancer

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.

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