Veteran singer Billy Davis Jr. and 17-year-old Deana Nyenhuis have at least two things in common. Both licked cancer and both were honored for that at the Cancer Treatment Research Foundation’s fundraiser, along with another “Superhero” award recipient, researcher Ed Hirschowitz. During cocktails in one of the Hyatt Regency’s cavernous rooms, Davis, accompanied by his wife and fellow Fifth Dimension alum Marilyn McCoo, greeted a long queue of well-wishers. The duo later regaled the dinner audience with a medley of their greatest hits. Many of the 500-plus in attendance, whose contributions to the event totaled $500,000, have battled cancer or seen their loved ones succumb to it. Outgoing Lt. Governor Corinne Wood, a previous honoree, said her bout with breast cancer bolstered her resolve in politics. Another notable, Connie Payton–who started a research fund through the foundation in memory of her late husband, Bears legend and liver-cancer casualty Walter Payton–mentioned her new book, a compilation of advice and inspirational messages from families that have dealt with the disease. Walking largely unnoticed amid silent auction items that included an adorable Lab pup was the young Dr. Hirschowitz. “I don’t go to this sort of function often; I’m usually in the lab developing a vaccine for lung cancer,” he said, adding that he teaches in Kentucky, the state with the highest incidence of lung cancer. “You can understand the urgency, so I’m grateful for a grant from the foundation. I’m told that 99 percent of the money they raise goes directly to projects like mine.”
