When word got out in late August that he had been hospitalized and was being treated for a recurrence of cancer, his fifth bout with the disease, former Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter said in a statement issued by his office: “I am battling cancer, and it’s another battle I intend to win. I am grateful for the well wishes I have received and I am looking forward to getting back to work, to the comedy stage, the squash court and the ballpark.” A man with many interests and seemingly boundless energy, it was only when Specter canceled his stand-up gig at a local comedy club in Philadelphia that friends and admirers realized something had to be terribly wrong for him to skip out on an evening of comedy.