Going There… Goes There
Katie Couric has been a fixture of American media and journalism for decades, and in her memoir Going There, she touches on just about her whole life up until about 2020. Starting in childhood, she talks about her eating disorder and what inspired her to recover, she talks about meeting her late husband, Jay Monahan, and his grueling battle with colorectal cancer which ended in his untimely death. She talks about her kids, and meeting her current husband, John Molner (who she lovingly calls Molner or Mol). She isn’t afraid to shy away from the blunders she’s made over the years, how she apologized, and how she shows she’s learned from her mistakes. She also talks about what everyone’s dying to hear about, from Matt Lauer to Sarah Palin.
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Couric’s writing is detailed, but concise and doesn’t dip its toe into “too much information” territory. Going There is one book you won’t want to put down with its many thrilling stories about Katie’s time in war zones, her time on TODAY, and various stories she’s covered as a journalist over the years. It’s the perfect mix of work life and personal life. It’s a look behind the curtain of her life, and while she’s not the most private celebrity, there are plenty of new stories that we the public had no idea about. Going There is written with a level of grace and courage that could only come from Katie Couric. There are bits of humor laced through the more serious parts but isn’t that how life is? Going There is an authentic memoir from the time you open the book until you read the last word on the last page. There’s something everyone can learn from reading this book and I for one, think that’s part of the beauty of it.
One lesson that stands out is that it’s never too late to start fresh, no matter the ‘why’. This lesson hits home for me personally, because I’ve had to start fresh a few times in my life as someone in their early 30’s, and as a result I feel like I’m “behind” my peers. But I just have to keep reminding myself that it’s never too late to start fresh. It’s never too late to fall in love or change trajectories in career. It’s never too late to make a new friend or to write a book. You just have to start.
