News Releases
BEYOND: LIVE & THRIVE AFTER BREAST CANCER FEATURES DEANNA AND BRETT FAVRE IN THE SPRING/SUMMER 2007 ISSUE
DES MOINES (March 2007) — Beyond: Live & Thrive After Breast Cancer, a new semi-annual publication from Meredith Special Interest Media, features a cover story with Deanna and Brett Favre. As her famous husband heads into the twilight of his football career, Deanna Favre shares a new game plan to help breast cancer survivors in the magazine’s spring/summer 2007 issue.
Cancer free and doing “great,” Deanna used to wonder what her purpose was in life. In 2004 – months after Brett’s father died unexpectedly and four days after she buried her younger brother – she found out. “I really do not believe that God gave me cancer, but I believed He prepared me for being on this road,” says Deanna who had early-stage breast cancer.
Deanna had to adjust to being in the public eye. “I was never in the spotlight before Brett’s dad passed away. I was his wife. Period. But all of a sudden I’m at a game and they show me on camera. Then my brother dies and then the cancer came. I’m just thrust into the spotlight and I’m thinking there is a reason for this.”
Deanna found her calling. She started her own foundation. The Deanna Favre Hope Foundation pays for medical bills for women battling breast cancer who are uninsured or underinsured.
Soon after her lumpectomy, Deanna began chemotherapy. “I lost everything—my hair, my eyebrows, eyelashes—and yet I still had to shave my legs. The one place a woman really wants to lose hair, and I didn’t.” In a sign of support, Brett shaved his head. “It brought humor to the situation,” he says, “and I wanted her to know that was not alone. That I was going to be with her every step of the way.”
In fact, Deanna’s cancer has brought her closer than ever to Brett. “He’s more attentive now. He never was a big romantic, but he is more so now. He realized how you can lose people you love.” Brett agrees, “I found out that my family and I are not invincible.”
Beyond’s spring/summer 2007 issue, which provides women who have or had breast cancer the support and latest information on treatment and recovery; hits newsstands March 20, 2007, with a $5.99 cover price. The magazine premiered in September 2006. Beyond is part of Meredith Special Interest Media’s health group which also includes Diabetic Living and Heart-Healthy Living. The health group is committed to providing its readers with the most up-to-date medical and nutritional information.
Meredith Special Interest Media is the largest collection of newsstand publications in the world, with approximately 200 issues a year in the areas of building and remodeling; decorating and design; cooking and entertaining; gardening and outdoor living; health and nutrition; and crafting.
Meredith (www.meredith.com) is one of the nation's leading media and marketing companies with businesses centering on magazine and book publishing, television broadcasting, integrated marketing and interactive media. The Meredith Publishing Group features 25 subscription magazines - including Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Ladies' Home Journal, Parents, Child, Fitness, and American Baby - and approximately 200 special interest publications. Meredith owns 14 television stations, including properties in top-25 markets such as Atlanta, Phoenix and Portland.
Meredith has approximately 350 books in print and has established marketing relationships with some of America's leading companies including The Home Depot, DIRECTV, DaimlerChrysler, Wal-Mart and Carnival Cruise Lines. Meredith's consumer database, which contains more than 85 million names, is one of the largest domestic databases among media companies and enables magazine and television advertisers to target marketing campaigns precisely. Additionally, Meredith has an extensive Internet presence that includes 32 Web sites and strategic alliances with leading Internet destinations. Meredith Hispanic Ventures publishes five Spanish-language titles, making Meredith the largest Hispanic publisher in the United States reaching women at every life stage. The Family Circle Cup, America's premier women's professional tennis tournament, is owned and operated by Meredith and held every April in Charleston, SC. For more than three decades it has showcased the best in women's tennis.
Contact:
Lindsey von Busch
Lindsey.vonbusch@meredith.com
(732) 288-0629