State-born actor, playwright, cancer survivor to speak at MSU

Contact: Maridith Geuder

Daytime television drama actor Anthony Herrera, the longtime villain "James Stenbeck" on "As the World Turns," visits Mississippi State Oct. 21 and 22 to share stories of his professional and personal lives.

In recent years, Herrera has said he believes one of his more important roles is that of cancer survivor. He also will talk about that experience during a 6:30 p.m. public program on the 21st at the university's Hunter Henry Center, to be followed by signings of his new book, "The Cancer War."

On the 22nd, he will screen "The Wide Net," an adapted broadcast production of the 1943 Eudora Welty literary collection by the same title that he has written and directed. Also open to the public, this program begins at 6:00 p.m. in the John Grisham Room of Mitchell Memorial Library.

An English and zoology graduate of the University of Mississippi, Herrera studied drama in New York under the noted Method actress Stella Adler (1902-1992). His portrayal of Stenbeck, the deliciously evil schemer, is a staple of the CBS soap opera series. He also has had roles in "The Young and the Restless" and "Loving," two other prominent daytime dramas, and is a founding member of The Poetry Theater, a collaborative effort in which actors perform their favorite poems.

When diagnosed in 1997 with the rare and usually fatal mantle cell lymphoma, Herrera was told that he most certainly would die. "I defied the odds," he has observed.

His treatment involved a combination of chemotherapy and an autologous stem cell transplant at New York's Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Then, following a relapse, he underwent a pioneering stem cell transplant from his brother at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Four years later, he's on the road, touring his productions and the 332-page personal account published earlier this year by Bell Mare of New York. "The fact that I'm doing this proves how well I feel," he said recently from California.

"Cancer War" has been praised by members of both the medical and acting communities.

Sergio Giralt, one of his Anderson physicians, described Herrera's account as "poignant." The professor of medicine added: "Despite having failed multiple other therapies, his case provided proof of principle that donor cells could induce long-term remission."

"Anthony Herrera's story is not only courageous and moving" but "a powerful book which will surely inspire and help many, many people," actress Ali McGraw has written.

"We are pleased to have a Mississippi native return to share his personal and professional experiences with students, scholars of Eudora Welty, and the larger community," said Nancy G. McCarley, director of the University Honors Program.

Herrera's visit to Mississippi State is sponsored by the university's Distinguished Scholarship Office, University Honors Program, College of Arts and Sciences, MSU Libraries, and the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.

For more information, telephone (662) 325-2559.