Rosalind MacPhee, a paramedic, author, poet, humanitarian and community leader, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991 and passed away in 1996, just a few days after finding out she had been selected to receive the Order of British Columbia.

Her journey through diagnosis, treatment and recovery is chronicled in her book, Picasso’s Women: A Breast Cancer Story. In this book Mrs. MacPhee shared her personal crisis and brought discussion of breast cancer into the public domain. It is a work of literature that describes the medical and emotional progress of a disease that afflicts many Canadian women.

In 1995, Rosalind MacPhee was awarded the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for non-fiction for her book and was honoured by the people of Lions Bay, her home of 23 years, with the Citizen of Distinction Award.

While Rosalind MacPhee lost her personal battle against breast cancer, her courageous words continue to speak from the pages of Picasso’s Women, providing strength and guidance to countless women on this continent and abroad.