Former news anchorman Tom Brokaw has announced that he has been diagnosed with cancer, but his doctors are encouraged about his prognosis, NBC said on Tuesday evening.
In a statement, the peacock network said that Brokaw, 74, was “diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer affecting blood cells in the bone marrow, in August at the Mayo Clinic.”
The statement continues:
“His doctors are optimistic about the outcome of the treatment he is receiving, and Brokaw said he remains ‘the luckiest guy I know.’”
“Throughout the treatment, Brokaw has continued to work on NBC News projects, including a two-hour documentary on the assassination of JFK, appearances on TODAY, Nightly News with Brian Williams, Meet the Press , and MSNBC .”
“He is also contributing to NBC Sports coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.”
Tom Brokaw is not only a journalist and news anchor, but an author who was born in Webster, South Dakota on February 6, 1940 and has spent the entirety of his 22-year professional career at NBC , in different capacities.
Currently he is a Special Correspondent for the network and works on documentaries for their other outlets.
Tom Brokaw’s career began in 1966 at the Los Angeles bureau and he gained notoriety at a national level in the tumultuous year that was 1968, covering Ronald Reagan first run for public office, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and the presidential campaign.
As a news anchor, Tom Brokaw has been witness to some of the most important events of our times and interviewed some of the most notable personalities including Mikhail Gorbachev, the Dalai Lama, and had the honor of being the only American network anchor at the Berlin wall the day it fell in 1989.
With his deep voice and captivating narrative Tom Brokaw had a front seat in such unforgettable events as the Challenger disaster, Hurrican Andrews, and the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.
The newsman penned a best-selling book about World War II called The Greatest Generation , on which he based the 2001 special The Greatest Generation Speaks .
In 2012, Tom Broakaw said, in an interview with CNN that the death of ABC fellow anchorman Peter Jennings from lung cancer in 2005 “really affirmed my decision” to retire from the chair.
Tom Brokaw and his wife Meredith have been married for 51-years and have three daughters. He said in the news release:
“With the exceptional support of my family, medical team and friends, I am very optimistic about the future and look forward to continuing my life, my work, and adventures still to come,” Tom Brokaw said. “I remain the luckiest guy I know.”
