Graduate, author Alicia Parlette dies after five-year battle with cancer

By: Staff Report

Thursday, April 22, 2010 - 9:26 PM

Alicia Parlette, a 2004 University of Nevada, Reno alumna, died just before noon today after battling a rare cancer for more than five years. She was 28.

Parlette checked into a San Francisco hospital April 2 after experiencing a rise in pain and breathing problems. After doctors said surgery wasn’t an option, Parlette decided to end her treatment and spent her final weeks in the hospital.

After she was diagnosed with cancer, Parlette wrote a 17-part series for the San Francisco Chronicle, where she worked as a copy editor, about the early part of her battle against alveolar soft part sarcoma. The series, which ran on the front page of the Chronicle, connected with readers around the world and drew 3,500 e-mails in the first week. It was later turned into a book, “Alicia’s Story.”

After Paul Mitchell, a UNR professor, visited Parlette in the hospital two weeks ago, he said people from all over the country were waiting for a chance to see her. Someone even phoned in from Rwanda to speak with her.