E-mail from Elizabeth Edwards

[EC]

I want to thank you for your all of your thoughts and prayers since I was diagnosed with breast cancer last November. I have gained so much strength from all of your good wishes, and I am pleased to report that my health is steadily improving. A few weeks ago, I completed all of my treatment, and I have more energy and feel better every day. My doctors are very optimistic and they expect me to have a strong recovery.

During this process John and I constantly talked about how hard it would be to face what we faced without having access to health care or without our basic needs being met. Unfortunately, many working Americans are still struggling to make ends meet; the disparity between the two Americas is as great as ever. So I would like to let you know about some of the things that John has been up to lately. To shine a spotlight on the working poor, John has traveled the country these past few weeks and talked with working men and women who live in poverty every day. Their stories are troublingly similar: they work as many hours as they can, sometimes holding down more than one job, but they barely scrape by each month. If one member of the family falls ill, they have to choose between paying for treatment and paying for food. That's not a choice any working family should ever have to make.

Thankfully, there are talented, tireless individuals - like Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Shipler - who are dedicated to uniting our two Americas. In his book "The Working Poor," David writes: "No one who works hard should be poor in America." John and I couldn't agree more.

David spoke with working men and women across the country to discover how they live, why they are poor, and how we can do better by them. Not only does David vividly portray their plight - he deftly assesses the personal and societal shortcomings behind it. David shows how poverty acts like an ecological system: rising rents, low wages, bad credit, and malnutrition are not isolated factors, but rather they interact and exacerbate each other, creating a vicious cycle. This leads to insurmountable debt and, worse, it crushes hope. Working Americans should not have to struggle to survive, and until we change our policies and our leadership, we will see our two Americas drifting dangerously farther apart.

John and I think "The Working Poor" is a very accurate and compelling portrayal of the poverty we've seen firsthand, and we want as many people as possible to read this book. We are eager to hear what you think about it so please visit our site and post comments in our new Book Forum. This week David will join the Forum to respond to your comments, so be sure to check for that. Through the Forum you can also download our very first bookcast, in which John, David, and I discuss "The Working Poor" and field your questions. We urge you to read this book and offer your insights. To eradicate working class poverty, we must understand how and why people are struggling.

Thank you for your continued commitment to One America, and take care.

- Elizabeth Edwards

PS: If you haven't already, please sign up for our regular podcasts. Last month's podcast is available through the Web site, and it's not too late to submit questions that you'd like answered in the next one.

[underpants]

1. Hi Elizabeth!!!

:hi:

[mzmolly]

2. So glad she's doing well.

:)

[Lindsey]

3. Thank you so very much for your continued work with the poor

and I'm thrilled that you are feeling better. :-)I will definitely check out the web site and the book that you referred to. You are truly an inspiration. I have to look at that and try hard to let go of my anger and despair regarding the election and the state of our country. I will focus my energy on how I can help - thank you for reminding us. You are an angel on this earth.

[mzmolly]

4. .