What I Learned When I Almost Died

How a Maniac TV Producer Put Down His BlackBerry and Started to Live His Life

By: Chris Licht

Narrated by: Chris Licht

Equal parts Mitch Albom and Jerry Maguire, Chris Licht tells the tale of a brilliant career nearly cut short by a brain aneurysm—and how that near-death experience changed everything.

Chris Licht was a “killer” at his day job as the executive producer in charge of running MSNBC’s must-watch politics and morning news show Morning Joe. A thirty-eight-year-old control freak who thrived in the high-octane world of media, he had spent years sacrificing relationships with family and friends in the fiercely driven pursuit of his career. But that was before a brain aneurysm nearly killed him. Suddenly humbled, Chris is forced to recognize the richness of the life he nearly lost and to reckon with his family and career. This is a story of a man who nearly died—and found a way to remove what doesn’t matter and wound up more in love with his work and his family than ever.

What I Learned When I Almost Died brings to life the set of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, plunging into the competitive world of television and revealing all the egos and adrenaline it takes to create a popular cable TV political show. Licht also flings back the curtain to one of the nation’s most prestigious emergency rooms as his life hangs in the balance, detailing the extraordinary courage and professionalism it takes to bring him back from the edge.

Moving

Hearing an autobiographical event such as this in the author’s voice takes the story to new levels in fear, uncertainty, understanding, self-awareness, and joy. Great job.

The near death experiences that shaped the new boss at CNN

Although this short passionate tale of the near death of Chris Licht was written over a decade ago, it provides great insight into the man now re-inventing CNN, and what shaped him then and I believe now. He was the driven producer of Morning Joe then, it is clear what burned inside him was key to his path since and a peek at who he now. This shows many sides from alpha producer to family man but what comes across most is that once in n course he will not be stopped no matter what his critics say. It left me hungry for a sequel but I know he is too busy right now making history to write about it.