Alumni Profiles

Four months ago, the columnist Ann Landers ran a letter from a woman urging people who have been diagnosed with cancer to read a book called Fighting Cancer.

Based on previous experience with this type of endorsement, Richard Bloch, the book’s co-author and publisher, set up 25 incoming phone lines for the volume of calls he thought might result. “That didn’t begin to handle the demand,” he says. Telephone company computers recorded 383,000 calls the first day, 360,000 the second day and 160,000 the third day. More than a million calls — including repeat efforts by those who encountered a busy signal — were logged in the first four days.

“People are desperate for accurate information on cancer,” Bloch says. “They don’t know where to turn.”

Bloch and his wife Annette have spent nearly two decades trying to address this need. Their goal has always been to provide free sources of reliable information, along with encouragement and support, to individuals diagnosed with any form of cancer. The couple’s commitment reflects a pledge Bloch made to himself back in 1978, when he was thrown one of those unexpected curve balls that end up changing your life.

At the time Bloch was president of Kansas City-based H&R Block, the hugely successful tax preparation firm that he and his brother Henry founded in 1954. A persistent stiff neck and pain in his arm was diagnosed as terminal lung cancer and Bloch was told that he had 90 days to live. Bloch did what he strongly encourages every person diagnosed with cancer to do: he asked for a second opinion.

“If a person gets a qualified independent second opinion, his or her chances of recovery from any kind of cancer are dramatically increased,” Bloch says. “Cancer is extremely complex. There are many, many options. There is no way any single physician can know the latest and best treatment for every form of the disease … You have one chance to beat cancer. If you don’t take advantage of it, there is no second chance.”

A specialist at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston recommended a two-year program that included surgery to remove Bloch’s damaged lung, two ribs, part of a third rib and affected nerves, followed by a regimen of chemotherapy and radiation.

If the treatment worked and he was cured, Bloch vowed to spend his life supporting others who are diagnosed with cancer. It did work — and Bloch has more than upheld his end of the deal.

In 1980, he and Annette — co-author of the couple’s three books on cancer — set up the R.A. Bloch Cancer Foundation devoted to projects that help cancer patients conquer their disease. The Blochs’ approach is an activist, energizing one based on giving people the information, guidance and encouragement necessary to defeat this particular enemy. Indeed, the cover of Fighting Cancer features a pair of boxing gloves and the book is dedicated to people with cancer “who want to do everything in their power to help themselves and their doctor so they will have the best chance of beating their disease.”

In 1982, Bloch sold his interest in H&R Block and “retired” from the business to concentrate full-time on his foundation and related activities.

Among the services offered are a toll-free hotline (800-433-0464) donated by Sprint and staffed with volunteers who have had cancer. There is also the Physicians Data Query (PDQ), a government-supported service that provides up-to-date reports to doctors about the latest cancer treatments available. The foundation launched the service and prints out the medical reports for patients and their physicians.

All services of the foundation are free, and no contributions of cash are ever solicited.

Annette and Richard Bloch have also funded more than a dozen cancer survivors parks — sculpture gardens in cities throughout the U.S. that are designed to give messages of hope and courage to those diagnosed with cancer.

Like any businessman, Bloch is constantly working on new initiatives. “One of our goals is to get institutions to offer multi-disciplinary second opinions, in which all the physicians who could possibly treat a specific cancer sit down together with the patient and discuss his or her case from beginning to end so that the patient can make an informed decision” on the treatment options available.

Patients, Bloch adds, “are often afraid to irritate their doctor by asking too many questions. But patients need to remember that in this situation they are the boss.”

He is also working on a pamphlet for clergy to give to people who have recently been diagnosed with cancer. “Being told you have cancer is one of the first times an individual realizes he is mortal,” Bloch says. “And one of the first people that individual may want to talk to is a minister or rabbi or priest. We know these clergy have not been trained to truly help a cancer patient. Clergy can console, they can say prayers, but they don’t know how to empower a person and get him to act on his own behalf.”

Bloch’s energy is a testament to the message of hope that he promotes. His workday, in an office at H&R Block, frequently starts at 4:30 a.m. (“I never did that for money. This is so much more important,” he says); he plays tennis regularly; he and his wife, whom he met in Philadelphia when he was a student at Wharton, recently returned from a three-week vacation to Europe. The couple has three daughters and seven grandchildren.

Bloch’s reward comes in part from the knowledge that he is helping others. Every day, he says “we get the most gorgeous letters from individuals who thank us for saving their lives.”