It will only be a few more weeks until Stephen Colbert is the new host of the Late Show, taking over for David Letterman, who is stepping down after many years at the helm of the popular late night — but what most people don’t know about Colbert is a terribly tragedy that happened when he was just 10.

Don’t expect the satirical character that Colbert played while doing Comedy Central’s popular “Colbert Report,” as he’ll be playing a standard late night host and a real human being, although he won’t leave behind his biting sense of humor, according to a CBS News report.

Colbert, 51, has been heavily promoting the show as of late, doing wacky things like appearing with Eminem on a local cable access show in Michigan, and he recently sat down for an interview with GQ magazine.

But not many people are aware of the road Colbert has traveled. He was born in Washington D.C. to a bit Catholic family — in fact, he was the youngest of 11 kids. He grew up in Charlestown, South Carolina, a state he references often.

But it was one event in 1974 that shaped Colbert forever. His father and two brothers, Peter and Paul, passed away when their plane — Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 — crashed on approach to Charlotte.

This devastated Colbert, who was 10 at the time, and he became reclusive, or at least detached, as he described it. The things other kids seemed to be obsessed with didn’t interest Colbert, who took up an interest in J.R.R. Tolkein and the Lord of the Rings, an obsession he is famous for today — even getting a cameo role in one of the Hobbit movies. He was also interested in Dungeons and Dragons, which he said was his first acting and improvisation experience.

Colbert had wanted to become a marine biologist, but a perforated eardrum that required surgery meant he couldn’t do scuba diving activities. He is also deaf in his right ear as a result of this condition.