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Katie Couric is writing a memoir due for release in 2021

Katie Couric is writing a memoir, one she is counting on to live up to its title: "Unexpected."
(Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
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Longtime journalist Katie Couric is writing a memoir that will touch on her decades-long career in journalism, the deaths of her husband and sister from cancer and her experiences with sexism in the news industry.

Couric’s memoir, “Unexpected,” is slated for publication by Little, Brown and Co. in the spring of 2021, the publisher said in a news release.

“I’m excited to share what it was like being at the center of so many historic events and game-changing stories,” Couric said in a statement. “I’m also ready to talk about the fascinating and sometimes challenging people with whom I’ve worked, the radical transformation of my industry, and the heartbreaking losses I’ve endured.”

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Couric has been a familiar face to television viewers since 1989, when she was hired as a Pentagon correspondent for NBC News. She remained with the network until 2006, when she was named anchor of CBS Evening News. She later worked for ABC and Yahoo as a news correspondent.

She earned a reputation as an expert interviewer, which was cemented in 2008 after her talks with Sarah Palin, then Sen. John McCain’s running mate in the presidential election. Couric asked Palin to name the newspapers she read, a question the Alaska governor was unable to answer.

Little, Brown said that Couric’s book will detail her experiences with misogyny and sexism in the journalism industry, including “the time a high-ranking executive commented on her breast size in front of the top brass during an editorial meeting.”

The publisher also said that the book “will reveal the unapologetic Mad Men culture, ubiquitous in many news organizations, that led to revelations about some of the biggest names in the business, including her longtime co-anchor and friend Matt Lauer.” Lauer was fired by NBC News in 2017 after allegations of sexual harassment from several of his colleagues.

Couric’s book will also chronicle the tragedies she’s faced, including the death of her husband, Jay Monahan, at the age of 42 from colon cancer. Couric also lost her sister to cancer; Virginia state Sen. Emily Couric died at 54 in 2001.

Little, Brown Editor in Chief Judy Clain said she was “thrilled” to work with Couric on her memoir.

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“What a perfect moment for a transparent memoir about a career in journalism from one of the most respected and recognized women in media today,” Clain said in a statement. “Staying in the game is not a given, but Katie has evolved along with a changing media landscape and continued to contribute to the national conversation by consistently producing high-quality work that reflects her humanity and heart. She will write with her trademark humor and candor about her journey, which continues.”

“Unexpected” will be Couric’s fourth book. Her most recent one, “The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons From Extraordinary Lives,” was published by Random House in 2011.

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