Biden to open up in memoir on loss of son

[NEW YORK] Former US vice-president Joe Biden is to release a memoir in November revealing how he coped with the devastating loss of his son to cancer, his publisher said Monday.

The book will be titled "Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose" and will go on sale on November 14, Flatiron Books said in a statement.

According to The New York Times, the title is a reference to something Biden's son, Beau, told his father before he died.

"Promise me, Dad. Give me your word that no matter what happens, you're going to be all right," Beau Biden reportedly said at a family gathering in Nov 2014.

Beau Biden, who served for eight years as attorney general of his father's home state of Delaware, died of brain cancer on May 30, 2015, at the age of 46.

Flatiron Books described the upcoming book as an "intimate memoir" that "reveals the most momentous year" in Mr Biden's public life.

"Promise Me, Dad is a personal story from a father, grandfather, husband, and friend as he confronts the inevitability of devastating personal loss, while trying to balance his duty to his family and his country," according to the publisher.

In a statement, Mr Biden said he hoped that sharing his story "will strike a chord with other Americans who have walked the same path I have."

"I have always been fortunate to have an incredible support system around me, and I understand how many people in this country go through far worse than I have, with far less support," Mr Biden said.

Mr Biden, 74, a longtime senator from Delaware, served as vice-president during all eight years of Barack Obama's presidency.

The former vice-president will embark on a tour of 19 US cities in November to coincide with the release of his book.

AFP