Worthington & Caron, PC in association with Bartels' Harley-Davidson and Pacific Meso Center is proud to present The Greatest Escape, a memorial motorcycle ride to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Great Escape movie starring Steve McQueen, whose life was cut short at the age of 50 on November 7, 1980 by malignant peritoneal mesothelioma.

McQueen's story is well known. After his diagnosis in Los Angeles in 1979, McQueen eschewed conventional therapies for untested nostrums in Mexico, such as laetrile, coffee enemas and cow fetus injections. The Hollywood icon died soon after in 1980.

Join us Sunday, September 22, 2013 for a beautiful scenic ride on coastal Pacific Coast Highway beginning at Bartels’ Harley-Davidson in Marina Del Rey up to Sycamore Cove State Beach. The ride will be followed by a delicious tri-tip lunch from Muddy's BBQ and concert by the Johnny Cash Tribute Band, The Walking Phoenixes.

You could say that Worthington & Caron wrote the book on how asbestos killed Steve McQueen. In 2006, Roger Worthington interviewed his widow, Barbara McQueen. Many have long speculated over where and how Steve McQueen was exposed to asbestos. Steve never testified in a deposition, but he did tell numerous reporters and friends about his asbestos exposure. Before he died, he was asked by a friend, who tape recorded the conversation, how he got his cancer. Steve's blunt answer spoke for itself: "asbestos poisoning in my lungs, which is rare." (Interview with Burgh Joy, clinical professor at UCLA, personal archives of Barbara McQueen, 1980).

In addition, to mark the 25 ^th anniversary of his death, Roger donated the fee paid by a Hollywood movie production company for the use of his home to mesothelioma medical research. Roger donated the money equally between the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (ww.marf.org) and the Pacific Meso Center, which will conduct research in the Punch Worthington Laboratory.

Registration for single riders is $45 and $35 for passengers, which includes lunch, the concert and a commemorative pin and bandana. Registration for children under 12 is free and if you just want to come out for lunch and a show, tickets are $20.

100% of all proceeds will go to the Punch Worthington lab at UCLA and the Pacific Meso Centers lab on Santa Monica Blvd. for research and development of improved therapies for the treatment of malignant pleural mesothelioma.