He was a neuropsychiatrist who was studying consciousness when a patient explained what had happened to him. He came to believe the phenomenon was real.
When he was 25, he learned that he had multiple sclerosis. He coped with the disease throughout a long career at several networks, recalled in a best-selling memoir.
“I’m very comfortable with the level of ambition I have for my books,” says the ubiquitous BBC talk show host, who calls “Frankie” his “first happy romance.”