"I didn't learn for quite a while. In the hospital, she had this beautiful head of white hair. People were coming from across all the wards to see her but only because she was beautiful, not because there was a medical problem. And there wasn't a suggestion that there might a problem until one nurse asked the question, 'Is she an albino?' I said, 'No, of course not.' I rejected the idea completely. Even after she was officially diagnosed, I just assumed it was untrue. It took a little while to accept it and let it sink in and believe that was the truth. I put off telling people for a long time. When I finally told my mom, she had the most amazing reaction. She said, 'No one will love her any less.'"

"Folklore gives shape to the unknowable. Science can give you a reason how a genetic condition can happen in your family, but it can never tell you why. You can look to stories within your family for that answer, you can look to supernatural tales, you can look to legends. I think that's why people do that. Even if you do understand science, and you put faith in science, you are still always going to search for that 'why.' Folklore, the stories people tell to explain their world, answers that question."

ON BELIEFS ABOUT ALBINISM

"Some people have really beautiful beliefs about people with albinism. The Kuna people on the San Blas Islands have some really beautiful beliefs. They believe [those with albinism] are protectors of the night moon and they sometimes hold revered positions within society. But I also found some very terrible, very disturbing beliefs about albinism. In Tanzania, people with albinism aren't just ostracized, they are murdered, they are dismembered. Their body parts are sold on a gruesome black market to witch doctors, who use them in potions. These potions are purported to have magical components that will bring the person who ingests them luck in love and life and business."