Humphrys memoir bagged by William Collins

William Collins will publish John Humphrys’ memoir provisionally titled The Today File. The deal comes one day after the veteran broadcaster revealed retirement plans after 32 years on the BBC “Today Programme".

Arabella Pike, publishing director of William Collins, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Luigi Bonomi at LBA in "a major deal,” the HarperCollins imprint said.

The book will chart the course of Humphry's life from his Cardiff childhood "through the ups and downs of his life as a journalist covering Watergate and apartheid South Africa", as well as his time presenting the BBC "9’O Clock News" and his 32 years interviewing politicians on BBC Radio 4’s "Today".

The book will offer a behind-the-scenes account of working on the programme with his insights and stories about major politicians, figures in the news, celebrities, the BBC, as well as his trenchant view on the role of the media in politics and the health of the political system, William Collins said.

Pike said: "John Humphrys is the king of news broadcasting. He is famed for his tough interviewing, and his other qualities: his deep suspicion of authority in all its forms, his passionate commitment to various causes and his ferocious intellect. They inform everything he does.  He’s written important books about language, religion and our right to die in a dignified manner. Now he turns his pen to his own life."

She added: "The book is engaging, opinionated and gives a revealing view of some the great events of the last sixty years from his unique perspective. We are excited to publish later this year."