Keith J. Kelly

Keith J. Kelly

Media

Weinstein’s book group lands Ebola memoir

Harvey Weinstein’s book unit and Perseus Book Group have snapped up an Ebola memoir from the fiancée of the first person to die of the disease in the United States.

The price tag for the advance is estimated to be around $300,000.

Thomas Eric Duncan died in Dallas, Texas, on Oct. 8, becoming the only person to die of the disease in the United States, which has killed an estimated 5,100 in western Africa.

He was traveling from Liberia to reunite with his fiancée Louise Troh.

“The love of my life and the father of my son came to America to marry me,” Troh said in a statement. “It was supposed to be the first happy day of a new life of joy for us all. But before we could make our new family, he died a terrible death in a quarantined room.”

“There has been enormous media attention from people seeking her side of the story,” said Perseus CEO Daniel Steinberger. “She is going to tell her story in this book — not before.”

Troh sold her untitled book proposal to Weinstein Books, which is a joint venture with the Perseus Book Group via literary agent Scott Mendel.

There’s no word on who the collaborating writer will be at this point. Whoever they pick will have to write quickly.

Steinberger said it is due out in late April of 2015, and he expects to have a first printing of at least 100,000. He declined to discuss the amount of the advance but acknowledged it was a “significant six-figure advance.”

Steinberger said he thinks Perseus and Weinstein were approached because of a similar tragedy ripped from the headlines by Michelle Knight. That book, “Finding Me: A Decade of Darkness, A Life Reclaimed: A Memoir of the Cleveland Kidnappings” became a No. 1 bestseller on its publication in May, a year after she and two other young women were freed.