The Disappearing Spoon Podcast

In early 2016, Elena Tuttle and Rusty Gonsr finally published their research on the four sexes of the white-throated sparrow. It would also be her last paper. In 2013, Tuttle came down with a case of bronchitis and visited her doctor. Once again, she walked out of the clinic with a far bigger problem than she'd entered with. Her breast cancer had returned, and it had spread to her lungs. She kept fighting anyway to keep working on the sparrows. But eventually, she simply couldn't do it anymore. When she finally realized she would never make another trip to Cranberry Lake, she broke down crying.