Brokaw's new book on his life 'interrupted'

Tom Brokaw, beloved ex-NBC news anchor, best-selling author, gray eminence of American culture, was enjoying his lucky streak when cancer rudely interrupted. Now he's set to tell us all about it in a new memoir.

Random House announced Monday it will publish Brokaw's "candid" new book, A Lucky Life Interrupted, on May 12.

It's going to be the story of what happened after Brokaw's doctors broke the news he had multiple myeloma, an incurable but treatable blood cancer.

Shocked that his good life had suddenly veered into the realm of doctors, drugs and bad karma, he began a year of struggle and courage in the face of his own mortality.

He began keeping a journal in the fall of 2013, which became the basis for this memoir, Random House said in a statement.

"What I quickly learned after my diagnosis is that the world of a cancer patient has many parts and a good deal of uncertainty," Brokaw said in a statement. "As I made my way through the medical, emotional and physical challenges, I approached my new life in a familiar role — as a journalist who may be able to help others dealing with this unwelcome condition."

Kate Medina, his editor, called the memoir "a generous, informative, inspiring book. It is a deeply human, very moving and wonderfully written memoir."

And, of course, when the book is published, his former employer, NBC News, plans to offer special coverage of his story and the lessons he's learned.

Brokaw is already an established winner as a writer. He has had six USA TODAY best sellers, including The Greatest Generation, his paean to the generation of Americans who won WWII.

That book hit No. 1 in 1998, and helped make Brokaw a leader of the national effort to pay tribute to the courage and determination of these Americans before they passed from the scene.

Over 8 million copies of this and his other books have been sold across formats.

Brokaw, who just turned 75, also has won numerous awards in broadcast journalism, including two DuPonts, two Peabodys and a dozen Emmys, including one for lifetime achievement.

And, in 2014, President Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian award.