As a longtime advocate for colon cancer and Parkinson's disease awareness, veteran television journalist Katie Couric is no stranger to health advocacy. So naturally, she was intrigued when she learned, via a 2022 Politico article by Sam Stein, about ALS patient (and former Obama administration lawyer) Brian Wallach and his wife, Sandra Abrevaya, who were had become activists for this deadly disease.
Moved and inspired, Couric was eager to help Wallach and Abrevaya, especially when she learned that a documentary was being filmed about them. Stein connected her with the couple and, as Couric told The Envelope in a recent video call, “We met on Zoom and that's where the love story began.”
A warm and relaxed Couric gushed about Wallach and Abrevaya and her role as executive producer of their documentary, “For Love & Life: No Ordinary Campaign,” directed by Christopher Burke, while speaking from her Manhattan apartment.
The filmmakers must have been delighted that you wanted to come on board. How did you help?
A little financially and also earning something. [narrative] suggestions, because I believe that through my cancer advocacy work I have become quite adept at synthesizing complicated medical concepts and making them understandable to the average person.
So you were involved in the editing process of the film?
I wasn't in the editing room, but I would give notes on things I thought worked, on sound bites and when they were placed, little things like that. Some [suggestions] were taken and others were not. [Laughs]
Has your involvement in the film changed you, or perhaps your approach to promotion, in any way?
I have had the privilege of meeting many people who persevere in very difficult situations, and I believe Brian and Sandra have restored my faith in the ability of a small group of people to change the world, if that is the case. determined, you persevere and understand how to approach a problem.
Well, you've certainly known how to address the issues within your own health awareness efforts.
You have to use whatever power, influence or platform you have, and I think I, for one, had a platform on national television that could provide a pulpit to educate people about colon cancer, for example. Brian and Sandra understood the political system and how to navigate the behemoth that is the federal government and how to get things done, step by step. And that was his secret ingredient when it came to changing the face of the disease.
Given the death of her first husband from colon cancer and her activism in favor of the disease, Brian and Sandra's commitment to their cause (and each other) must have had a great impact on them.
When someone you love is sick, there is nothing like fear and desperation that drives you to do everything humanly possible to change the situation. And I think that's what Brian and Sandra have done. Watching them interact, watching Sandra express what Brian can no longer say, is incredibly moving and moving. I think they really embody what we hope to have in a partner.
