Everybody's Got Something
Robin Roberts, 2014
Grand Central Publishing
272 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781455578450
Summary
Regardless of how much money you have, your race, where you live, what religion you follow, you are going through something. Or you already have or you will. As momma always said, "Everybody's got something."
So begins beloved Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts's new memoir in which she recounts the incredible journey that's been her life so far, and the lessons she's learned along the way. With grace, heart, and humor, she writes about overcoming breast cancer only to learn five years later that she will need a bone marrow transplant to combat a rare blood disorder, the grief and heartbreak she suffered when her mother passed away, her triumphant return to GMA after her medical leave, and the tremendous support and love of her family and friends that saw her through her difficult times.
Following her mother's advice to "make your mess your message," Robin taught a nation of viewers that while it is true that we've all got something—a medical crisis to face, aging parents to care for, heartbreak in all its many forms—we've also all got something to give: hope, encouragement, a life-saving transplant or a spirit-saving embrace. As Robin has learned, and what readers of her remarkable story will come to believe as well, it's all about faith, family and friends. And finding out that you are stronger, much stronger, than you think. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—November 23, 1960
• Raised—Pass Christian, Mississippi, USA
• Education—B.A., Southeastern Louisiana University
• Awards—Peabody Award; Arthur Ashe Courage Award
• Currently—lives in New York City, New York
Robin Rene Roberts is an American television broadcaster, most widely known as the anchor of ABC's morning show Good Morning America. Previously, Roberts was a sports anchor for local TV and radio stations and a sportscaster on ESPN for 15 years (1990–2005). She became co-anchor on Good Morning America in 2005. She has been treated for breast cancer and for myelodysplastic syndrome.
Early life
Though born in Alabama, Roberts grew up in Pass Christian, Mississippi. She is the youngest of four children of Lucimarian Tolliver and Colonel Lawrence E. Roberts. Her father was a pilot with the Tuskegee Airmen. In a 2006 presentation to the assembled student body at Abilene Christian University, Roberts credited her parents as cultivating the "three Ds: Discipline, Determination, and 'De Lord.'"
She attended Pass Christian High School, where she played basketball and tennis, among other sports, and graduated in 1979 as the class salutatorian. She attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, graduating cum laude in 1983 with a degree in communication.
In the January 13, 2007, edition of Costas on the Radio, she said she had been offered a scholarship to play basketball at Louisiana State University but thought the school was too big and impersonal after visiting the campus. On her way back to Pass Christian from that visit, she saw a road sign for Southeastern Louisiana University, stopped to visit and decided to enroll. The only scholarship left was a tennis scholarship, and she was promised that there would be a journalism scholarship by the time she would graduate.
She went on to become a standout performer on the women's basketball team, ending her career as the school's third all-time leading scorer (1,446 points) and rebounder (1,034). She is one of the only three Lady Lions to score 1,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds.
During her senior season, she averaged a career-high 15.2 points per game. On February 5, 2011, Southeastern hosted a ceremony to retire Roberts' number 21 jersey.
Radio
Roberts began her career in 1983 as a sports anchor and reporter for WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. In 1984, she moved to WLOX-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi. In 1986, she was sports anchor and reporter for WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee. She was also a sports anchor and reporter at WAGA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1988 to 1990, as well as a radio host for radio station V-103 while in Atlanta.
Broadcasting
She joined ESPN as a sportscaster in February 1990, where she stayed until 2005. She became well known on Sportscenter for her catchphrase, "Go on with your bad self!" Roberts began to work for ABC News, specifically as a featured reporter, for Good Morning America in June 1995. In 2001, Roberts received the Mel Greenberg Media Award, presented by the WBCA.
For many years, Roberts worked at both ESPN and Good Morning America, contributing to both programs. During that time, she served primarily as the news anchor at GMA. In 2005, Roberts was promoted to co-anchor of Good Morning America. In December 2009, Roberts was joined by George Stephanopoulos as co-anchor of GMA after Diane Sawyer left to anchor ABC World News. Under their partnership, the Roberts-Stephanopoulos team led Good Morning America back to the top of the ratings; the program became the number-one morning show again in April 2012, beating NBC's Today, which had held the top spot for the previous 16 years.
In the fall of 2005, Roberts anchored a series of emotional reports from the Mississippi Gulf Coast after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina; her hometown of Pass Christian was especially hard hit, with her old high school reduced to rubble. On February 22, 2009, Roberts hosted the Academy Awards preshow for ABC, and did so again in 2011.
In 2010, Roberts guest starred on Disney Channel's Hannah Montana, appearing in season 4, episode 10, "Can You See the Real Me?" Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus) is interviewed by Roberts after revealing she is Hannah Montana. Miley discusses her double life and relives some of her most memorable moments about her friends, her family, her dating life, and how she was able to manage two lives. On May 30, 2010, Roberts drove the Pace Car for the 2010 Indianapolis 500.
In 20912, Roberts was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame for her contributions to and impact on the game of women's basketball through her broadcasting work and play.
Personal life
Roberts is a practicing Christian. In 2007, she was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer, undergoing surgery on August 3; by January 2008 she had completed eight chemotherapy treatments, followed by 6 weeks of radiation treatment.
In 2012, she was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a disease of the bone marrow. Be the Match Registry, a nonprofit organization run by the National Marrow Donor Program, experienced a 1,800% spike in donors the day Roberts went public with her illness.
She took a leave from GMA to get a bone marrow transplant, and went home in October 2012, returning to GMA on February 20, 2013. She received a 2012 Peabody Award for the program. The Peabody citation credits her for "allowing her network to document and build a public service campaign around her battle with rare disease" and "inspir[ing] hundreds of potential bone marrow donors to register and heighten[ing] awareness of the need for even more donors." ESPN awarded its Arthur Ashe Courage Award to Roberts at the 2013 ESPYs.
On December 29, 2013, Roberts posted a photo on Facebook with a caption that read:
At this moment I am at peace and filled with joy and gratitude. I am grateful to God, my doctors and nurses for my restored good health...I am grateful for my entire family, my long time girlfriend, Amber, and friends as we prepare to celebrate a glorious new year together.
The post was a reflection of the past year and noted her health, the status of her bone marrow transplant, and her sexual orientation. Roberts and Amber Laign, a massage therapist, have been together for 10 years. Though friends and co-workers have known about her same-sex relationships, this was the first time Roberts publicly acknowledged her sexual orientation.
In 2014 Roberts published a memoir, Everybody's Got Something, detailing her illness, surgiers and recoveries. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 4/19/2014.)
Book Reviews
Roberts’s book is like one of those packets of heavily sweetened instant oatmeal you can pretend it’s healthy even as you search out the sugar bombs of drama (her medical crises, her mother’s death, her ratings war with the Today show) and celebrity gossip (her 10-year relationship with the girlfriend she met on a blind date: “I liked the fact that she had no idea who I was”). Roberts delivers all of this in the soothing, upbeat voice that has made her so formidable a presence on morning TV. “I’m no Pollyanna,” she says in the current issue of Good Housekeeping, “but I believe optimism is a choice—a muscle that gets stronger with use. Right foot, left foot...just keep moving.
Gregory Cowles - New York Times Book Review
Following her mother's time-honored advice to "make your mess your message," Roberts offers an inspiring memoir of her life, from her home base in Mississippi to her home in New York and the glamorous though grueling life of a television reporter...With the infectious personality for which she's known, Roberts details the support of family and friends and the people she's met in her life and career who've inspired her by overcoming their own challenges with the "something" that everybody inevitably faces.
Booklist
Roberts chronicles her struggles with myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare condition that affects blood and bone marrow.... However, despite the author's best efforts to communicate the challenges of her experience and inspire empathy, readers are constantly reminded of her celebrity status and, as a result, are always kept at arm's length. The sections involving Roberts' family partly counter this problem.... At-times inspirational memoir about a journalist's battle with a grave disease she had to face while also dealing with her mother's passing.
Kirkus Reviews
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