Suleika Jaouad
Suleika Jaouad ( ; ) is an American writer, advocate, and motivational speaker. She is the author of the "Life, Interrupted" column in "The New York Times" and has also written for "Vogue, Glamour", NPR's "All Things Considered" and "Women's Health". Her 2021 memoir "Between Two Kingdoms" was a "New York Times" Best Seller. When Jaouad was diagnosed with cancer in 2011, doctors said she had only a 35% chance of surviving in the long-run. She survived, and has written and spoken extensively about her medical experiences. Her Emmy Award-winning column, "Life, Interrupted" was part of the  New York Times Well blog. Personal life. Suleika Jaouad graduated from Princeton University in 2010. Jaouad travels around the U.S. teaching writing and wellness workshops and she speaks at high schools, universities, hospitals, corporations, fund-raisers and professional events. Jaouad has been featured on NPR's "Talk of the Nation", NBC's "Weekend Today", CBS News, "The Paris Review", the "Los Angeles Times" and "Darling" magazine, among others. Her TED Talk titled "What almost dying taught me about living" was released in June 2019. Jaouad is married to musician Jon Batiste, with whom she has been in a relationship since  2014. According to a 2012 New York Times wellness article, "Life, Interrupted", which she chronicled her experiences as a young adult with cancer on a weekly basis, Jaouad wrote she first met Batiste as a teenager in band camp. In April 2022, the couple revealed in a television interview that they had been secretly married in February 2022.