Katie Couric: A Time to Heal

With her life back on track, the co-host launches a cancer center in her husband's memory.

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Back in the Game of Life

We all talk about making the best of a bad situation, about turning tragedy into triumph, picking up the pieces and moving on. But if you want a role model, look at Katie Couric.

Almost everyone knows her story: how a bubbly, middle-class kid from Arlington, Virginia, got a shot at the big time as a substitute host on Today. How her sharp interviewing skills and infectious smile won over audiences, and then the NBC brass. And how in 1998 tragedy struck when her husband, attorney Jay Monahan, died of colon cancer at the age of 42, leaving Couric with two young daughters and a broken heart.

Now for the news. In the six years since Monahan's death, Couric has gotten back into the game of life. She's found romance again with television producer Tom Werner. And she's continued to excel professionally, recently landing a record $65 million contract. But most important, she's turned into a genuine lifesaver. Using the bully pulpit of Today -- she had her own colonoscopy on the show, live -- Couric has urged millions of people to get tested for colon cancer. A medical study showed this "Couric effect" drove up colonoscopy rates by 20 percent. And in March, Couric cut the ribbon at the opening of the Jay Monahan Center for Gastrointestinal Health in New York City. Principally funded by the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (NCCRA) and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), the premier show business charity organization, the center offers patients a comprehensive approach to the prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal cancers.

Bursting with pride over the Monahan Center opening, Couric sat down with Reader's Digest to talk about her work, her family and her life.

RD: Was launching the NCCRA shortly after Jay's death a way of helping you cope?
Couric: One of the things people will talk about if they've experienced a terminal illness or tragedy is the sense of being powerless. That's a very difficult thing to manage, especially if you're a can-do person or a bit of a control freak. This was a way for me get back some control -- and perhaps save other people.

RD: What's the aim of the center?
Couric: I realized after Jay lost his battle how traumatic it was for him simply being treated for the disease. There are a number of people who care for you -- a clinical oncologist, gastroenterologist, radiation oncologist, even an ophthalmologist, because at one point Jay had a tumor behind his eye. Most of our doctors were very compassionate, but every time we had a problem, going to another specialist in another location was unnerving.

We wanted to create a comprehensive team approach in one place, where you could find out about clinical trials and they could translate the medical-ese, a place that could give you options -- that would be warm and welcoming in a time of crisis.

RD: Are we making any progress in preventing colon cancer?
Couric: We've increased the rate of colonoscopy screening by 20 percent, and you don't realize how many saved lives that translates into. Sometimes people go to the doctor and say they were referred by Katie Couric. They don't know me, but it's like I'm their friend, and I told them to go. I feel like I'm the resident fishwife, or nudge, with my rolling pin, saying, you have to do this. But I'm happy that people are doing it.

RD: What are the risks for developing colon cancer?
Couric: As many as 30 percent have a family history. For the rest, it's the first time in a family. People think, This isn't in my family, I don't have to get screened. Guess what? It was not in Jay's family either. Everybody needs to get screened, no matter what. It's the No. 2 cancer killer in this country after lung cancer.

RD: Why did you believe it was your job to take on this disease?
Couric: It wasn't even a decision. I had a show. Millions of people watched me. I felt like I had so much important information, and if I let that opportunity pass by, I would feel like I was being almost criminally negligent in not educating people. What was I supposed to do? Go along my merry way and let 57,000 people die every year of colorectal cancer?

RD: You recently also lost a sister to pancreatic cancer. Do you find strength in faith?
Couric: I was raised a Presbyterian. I think my faith has been tested. For a period I was really angry. But I'm coming back to the fold. I go to church, which gives me a moment to be contemplative and to take stock. I admire people who have a deep, abiding faith. But I think it's hard when something terrible happens, and you can't understand why a benevolent God would allow it. There's so much suffering.

RD: How have your kids dealt with the loss? How are they coping?
Couric: My No. 1 goal after Jay died was to make sure my kids got through this as healthy and whole as possible. And I think they're doing really, really well. I remember when Ellie was nine, she said to me, "Mom, I'm so proud of everything you're doing with colon cancer." Carrie wrote a little paper in second grade about the Jay Monahan Center. They don't have their dad but they do have a legacy. And it's through their loss that other lives are being saved. Somehow, even though that's a sophisticated notion, they get that. What better lesson can you give a child than that you have to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try to learn from the experience and make something positive come from it?

RD: Has your professional success surprised you?
Couric: I feel like I've accomplished a lot, but this is not the stuff that makes you happy ultimately. It's your relationships, your children, giving back, and all those things that sound so corny. I love having an exciting professional life. And it has well exceeded my wildest expectations. I still think it's hilarious. Sometimes I'll talk to people I knew early on in my career, and we'll say, "Can you believe this happened?" Is this the weirdest, funniest thing in the world that I am this person? Who'd of thunk it, seriously?

RD: Is there anything you miss in life because of your work schedule?
Couric: I go to bed at around ten, and I get up around five. I miss having breakfast with my kids and walking them to school. And sometimes it would be nice to go out at night and not worry about getting home early. But Jane Pauley always said this is a fantastic job if you have children, because you're not getting home at 7:30 at night. We almost always sit down and have dinner together as a family.

RD: Have you ever done something embarrassing on camera?
Couric: Twelve years ago, I interviewed this comedian named Bobcat Goldthwaite, and he's a screamer, and I didn't realize that was his whole shtick. I kept asking why he was screaming. And people thought I was really an idiot.

RD: How do you go from interviewing Donald Rumsfeld to doing ...
Couric: A cooking segment on the Chinese New Year? I think that's part of the fun of the show. You get to switch gears constantly. And you have to be interested in a lot of different things, from the latest in summer shoes to what's going on at the UN to a new drug for Alzheimer's. But I've always had a strong natural curiosity.