Gilda lives

The Wisconsin people who were going to wipe Gilda Radner’s name from the cancer support center named in her honor have come to their senses.

Gilda’s Club Madison has reversed its decision to change its name to Cancer Support Community Southwest Wisconsin (I wrote about it here).

“Over the past few weeks we’ve heard from so many passionate voices about how important Gilda Radner’s legacy is to our members affected by cancer,” the organization’s director, Lannia Stenz, said in announcing the decision today. “While we were never going to remove Gilda’s likeness from our walls nor her spirit from our mission, it became clear that however well intentioned, the decision to change the name of our club was not the right decision for our community.”

Originally, Stenz said the references to Gilda Radner, the comedienne who died of ovarian cancer, “are not part of the cultural literacy of young people in 2012.”

Meanwhile, a drive to raise more than $4 million to open a Gilda’s Club in Minneapolis is only a little more than halfway to the goal.