Further Reading
Bigsby, Christopher W., ed.The Cambridge Companion
to David Mamet.New York: Cambridge University
Press, 2004.
Brewer, Gay.David Mamet and Film: Illusion/Disillu-
sion in a Wounded Land. Jefferson, N.C.: McFar-
land, 1993.
Kane, Leslie.David Mamet’s “Glengarr y Glen Ross”:
Text and Performance. New York: Garland, 1996.
Andrew Macdonald
See also Literature in the United States; Madonna;
Theater.
Marathon of Hope
The Event Canadian Terry Fox runs more than
2,300 miles in 143 days to raise money for
cancer research
Date April 12-September 1, 1980
Place St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Thunder Bay,
Ontario, Canada
Despite falling short of his goal to run across Canada,
Terr y Fox raised millions of dollars while becoming a na-
tional icon and a pioneer of charity running.
A multisport athlete in high school, Terry Fox was di-
agnosed with bone cancer in 1977. After doctors am-
putated his right leg above the knee, Fox resolved to
accomplish an unprecedented athletic feat, a solo
run across Canada, to raise funds for the develop-
ment of cancer treatments. On April 12, 1980, Fox
began his run by dipping his prosthetic leg into the
Atlantic Ocean on the Newfoundland coast and em-
barked on a circuitous route that was to cover ap-
proximately 5,300 miles through some of the coun-
try’s largest urban areas, accompanied by a small
entourage of volunteers who provided support and
collected money from donors. His initial goal was to
raise $1 million for cancer research, but the early
success of the run prompted Fox to amend his fund-
raising goal to $25 million—roughly one dollar for
each Canadian citizen. As news of the run spread
across Canada, Fox was met with increasingly large
crowds at the towns and cities along his route.
For the duration of his run, which he dubbed the
“Marathon of Hope,” Fox proposed to run the ap-
proximate distance of a marathon (42 kilometers, or
26.1 miles) each day, stopping in populated areas to
address spectators and collect donations. By the end
of August, Fox had averaged more than twenty-three
miles a day with very few rest days and was nearly
halfway to his destination. However, on September
1, day 143 of his run, Fox began experiencing severe
chest pains and was forced to stop running. Tests re-
vealed that Fox’s cancer had returned and spread to
his lungs. Fox was hospitalized, succumbing to pneu-
monia on June 28, 1981.Impact In addition to the $24.17 million that Fox
raised along his Marathon of Hope route, millions
more continued to pour into the coffers of his TerryThe Eighties in America Marathon of Hope 617
Terry Fox runs in his Marathon of Hope in 1980.(AP/Wide
World Photos)