i was looking at an article on seabiscuit, i believe 1938 newspaper.on the other side of the page was an article on this running phenomenon named louis zamperini, i read that, i was fascinated by him. i wrote his name down. later while i was working out about that i saw the story on war story. i said i got to look this guy up when i'm done. when i was finished with the book i wrote him a letter, he wrote me back. we had a phone call, he told me his whole story i have to write this book. >> schieffer: i think it also underlines great thing about newspapers. if you are looking for something online you go directly to that until you find it. when you are reading a newspaper you find all these other stories that you weren't particularly looking for. and in this case look what that did for you. >> if you look something up online it's like you're wearing blinkers. if you look it up in old newspaper you have peripheral vision all of a sudden seeing things that you wouldn't have come across. i love to look at the house ads and advertisements for hats on 5th ave

>> i happened to flip over an article that was on seabiscuit and there's an article on louis zamperinie other side. and i read it and was immediately fascinated. >> reporter: but she could never travel from her home in washington, d.c. to los angeles to meet louis. laura suffers from a severely incapacitating condition that has left her with constant vertigo and exhaustion so profound that for years, she was housebound. so she and louis had marathon telephone conversations. >> and when he was telling me his story, i wasn't looking at a 95-year-old man. i was looking at the 26-year-old on a raft, you know? and i think it became an advantage to me in telling the story that i wasn't physically with him. >> reporter: "unbroken" the book, now out in paperback, has been on the best-seller list for almost four years. >> we tried to then expand on this already very impressive life, that laura so beautifully detailed in her book, and try to carry it forward and do nothing, nothing to hurt it. >> reporter: one of the greatest generation's greatest life stories began in 1917. louis zamperini was

>> i happened to flip over an article that was on seabiscuit and there's an article on louis zamperinide. and i read it and was immediately fascinated. >> reporter: but she could never travel from her home in washington, d.c. to los angeles to meet louis. to meet louis. laura suffers from a severely incapacitating condition that has left her with constant vertigo and exhaustion so profound that for years, she was housebound. so, she and louis had marathon telephone conversations. >> and when he was telling me his story, i wasn't looking at a 95-year-old man. i was looking at the 26-year-old on a raft, you know? and i was looking at the teenager who's trying to run in the olympics. and i think it became an advantage to me in -- in telling the story that i -- i wasn't physically with him. >> reporter: "unbroken" the book, now out in paperback, has been on the best-seller list for almost four years. >> we try to then expand on this already very impressive life that laura so beautifully detailed in her book, and try to carry it forward and do nothing, nothing, to -- to hurt it. >> reporter

and laura hillenbrand the writer who brought us "unbroken"ings a and "seabiscuit" while battling herhidden fees from the bank where no branches equals great rates. ght, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours but aleve can last 12 hours. and aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? how are ya? good. aleve. proven better on pain. >>> the movie unbroken opened christmas day, it's the story of world war ii hero louie zamparini who survived two month -- the woman who introduceded most of us to louie in a best selling book faced her own life changing circumstances. >> i think louie has become an inspiration for a generation of pictures. a man who survived the seemingly unsurvivable. >> i think all of those can look at his life and look at the things that he got through and look at our own troubles and think, if he got through that why can't i get through this? >> but hillen brand has her own amazing story of resilience. >> it used to be called chronic fatigue syndrome, it is a disease that is characterized by profound exhaustion