Well, I'm glad I was wrong! The decision by a handful of local affiliates of Gilda's Club to change their name to Cancer Support Community is not an organization-wide change. The original article reporting the name change stated that "[t]he national organization is phasing in the new name, Cancer Support Community … and the Gilda name will slowly go away." However, a new article on Michigan's M Live says that the name change will not be mandatory on a national level. Local affiliates are free to either keep the Gilda's Club name or go through with the change if they so choose.
The announcement by Gilda's Club Madison this week caused an uproar, even leading to petitions to convince Gilda's Club to reconsider taking Gilda Radner's name off of the organization that was formed in her memory. But now it appears that an eventual, full phase-out is not the case. Do some of us think that Gilda's story is worth telling to those who aren't familiar with her legacy of strength and creativity? Yes, indeed. And her book, It's Always Something, is a pretty good start.
Photo credit: Gilda's Club Grand Rapids
(h/t @ABHuret on Twitter)
