Olivia Clarke was a Chicago-area journalist and publicist who, after being diagnosed with breast cancer, started a nonprofit called Humor Beats Cancer meant to help lift the spirits of cancer patients, especially younger ones.
The group provides grants to adult cancer patients to help with medical bills, and it also sends free humorous care packages to those battling cancer.
“Olivia’s passion was second to none. She poured her heart into everything she did — work, volunteerism, relationships, fun,” said Maria Black, chief marketing officer of law firm Kirkland & Ellis. “She had this spark of energy that never seemed to wane.”
Clarke, 46, who lived on Chicago’s Near South Side, died of complications from breast cancer Jan. 15 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said her sister, Meagan Casey.
Born and raised in Hammond, Ind., Clarke received a bachelor’s degree in 2000 from Indiana University, where she was editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student.
She was an intern at the Chicago Tribune after graduating and worked briefly at a newspaper in Arizona before taking a job as education reporter with the Times of Northwest Indiana. She then worked for the Chicago Lawyer, becoming editor of the magazine and its sister publication, the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin newspaper.
“She really appreciated storytelling and emotional photos, and she wanted to use those photos in big ways,” said Natalie Battaglia, a photographer she worked with at those publications.
In 2013 she went into public relations, joining Greentarget Global Group, then two years later joined the PR team at Kirkland & Ellis.
“Olivia was a fierce advocate for our lawyers,” Black said. “She brought passion to her work and loved doing it.”
In 2015 Clarke was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. After treatment, she was declared cancer-free, but her cancer returned in 2021.
She started Humor Beats Cancer in 2017.
“While I was sitting in waiting rooms, I would notice things that you could either get upset about or you could laugh at,” Clarke said in a 2024 episode of the Optimism Institute’s “Blue Sky” podcast.
“I did find that there were some funny things, so I had this hypothesis that humor and writing could be used as coping tools to deal with cancer,” she said.
Each year, Humor Beats Cancer awards multiple $1,000 grants to help cancer patients aged 21 to 49 pay cancer bills. Applicants must write essays offering humorous anecdotes about their personal encounters in dealing with cancer.
“She was all about connections, in every form and every way,” Battaglia said. “Whether it was connecting to people dealing with cancer or connecting people with stories that can move them, she just loved connecting with communities. She was very good at validating people and making people feel seen and heard and loved.”
Clarke’s group also partners with Chicago-based nonprofit cancer support association Gilda’s Club. The free humorous care packages for those dealing with cancer include funny books, notepads with humorous sayings on them, sweet treats and socks.
“I was finding that a lot of the care packages I (previously) was getting were for useless things that you didn’t really need, and it made you almost feel like you were like a 90-year-old grandma,” Clarke said on the “Blue Sky” podcast.
Humor Beats Cancer attracted followers from around the world.
“After her cancer went into remission after the first time she was diagnosed with it, she woke up one day and was like, ‘I haven’t done enough, I haven’t fulfilled everything, and I want more of a purpose, and I can help people,’” said Juliette Galassini, who helped Clarke run Humor Beats Cancer. “So she thought from the get-go that if she could help one or two people, that would be enough.”
The organization became even more important to her after her second cancer diagnosis, Galassini said.
“She was willing to do anything and everything to bring joy to other people,” she said. “Frankly, most fans didn’t even know what was going on with her or when her treatment (recently) stopped working. She ended up building a great community, and that motivated her to keep going and to help other people.”
Even through multiple rounds of chemotherapy in recent months, Clarke was a forceful advocate for cancer patients. Chicagoan Tiffany White, 31, a cancer survivor, is completing a documentary about people with cancer called “Do We Really Have Control?” White taped interviews with Clarke several months ago.
“She was a really amazing spirit — an awesome human being who touched the lives of thousands of people,” White said. “She talked about having cancer, but not having had it, she said she wouldn’t have met all these people and all this community. She prided herself on making sure everyone else felt safe and love and support during their cancer journey.”
Clarke’s “Blue Sky” podcast episode was released in early December.
“I was struck by her honesty. She held nothing back when talking about her diagnosis, what it was like to get the news and her daily struggles,” said Bill Burke, the host of the “Blue Sky” podcast. “And I was amazed to learn of the simple, silly care packages she sent off to people. This was not some automated process, but something she did by hand, slowly and carefully.”
“She constantly felt that she was never giving enough and felt that there was always more to give,” Clarke’s sister said. “She felt she could make the world a little better.”
Clarke headed the Chicago chapter of Indiana University’s alumni association from 2013 until 2015 and created an art mentorship program at Augustus Tolton Academy on the South Side in 2017. She also coached a poetry slam team for a competition, volunteered in a food pantry and served as a parish leader at her church, Holy Name Cathedral.
A marriage to John Silver ended in divorce. In addition to her sister, Clarke is survived by her father, James.
A service was held.
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
