LEWISTON – A nationally-known writer and educator will be the keynote speaker at a presentation set for Wednesday, Oct. 13, at the Hilton Garden Inn in Auburn.

Lillie Shockney, a breast cancer cancer survivor who has authored two books and numerous articles about the disease, will discuss “The Value of Humor When Confronted with Breast Cancer” at a presentation to begin at 7:30 p.m. A dessert bar will precede her talk at 7 p.m.

Central Maine Medical Center’s Sam and Jennie Bennett Breast Care Center and AstraZeneca and Alliance Imaging Inc. are co-sponsoring the event. Admission is free.

Shockney is a registered nurse who serves as administrative director of the Johns Hopkins Breast Center in Baltimore. In 1992, while working as director of performance improvement at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 38.

During her life, Shockney has seen her mother’s best friend battle breast cancer, provided nursing care for breast cancer patients, guided the quality development of breast cancer services, and finally become a patient herself.

Her experience with the disease became the subject of two books, including her most recent, “Breast Cancer Survivor’s Club: A Nurse’s Experience.”

Shockney’s accomplishments in breast cancer awareness are extensive. Among many other activities, she is vice president and co-founder of Mothers Supporting Daughters with Breast Cancer and is a member of the governor boards of Y-ME, Young Survival Coalition, National Consortium of Breast Centers, National Women’s Health Resources Organization and Men Against Breast Cancer.

She also developed the Hopkins Breast Center Web site, created the survivor volunteer team and established Breastivals, which promotes breast health among young women in what is now a trademarked national program.

Among other accomplishments, she is the winner of the 2003 National Impact Award of the National Consortium of Breast Centers, the 2002 National Breast Cancer Education Excellence Award of the Oncology Nursing Society and has been recognized with the American Cancer Society’s National Caregiver and Local Volunteer awards. She has also been recognized by the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

A graduate of the MacQueen Gibbs Willis School of Nursing at Easton Hospital in Easton, Md., she holds a bachelor’s degree in health care administration and a master’s degree in administrative science from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Admission to Oct. 13 presentation is free, but space is limited, so those interested in attending should make reservations by call the CMMC Sam and Jennie Bennett Breast Care Center at 795-2104.