We at The Rumpus are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of writer Ned Vizzini at the age of 32. The author of Be More Chill, It’s Kind of A Funny Story, and other books, Ned was also an advocate for mental health awareness and often spoke publicly about his own experiences with depression.
At BuzzFeed Books, editor Isaac Fitzgerald has published a thoughtful assembly of remembrances of Ned, including a brief one by Alanna Okun:
I loved Ned Vizzini’s writing, but more than that, I loved that he showed what it was possible to do with writing. That you could hold this deep, snarling pain in one fist and humor, even wonder, in the other, and were allowed to live in this space between fiction and nonfiction in order to tell a story that was somehow truer than the truth.
Brad Listi has also made his Other People interview with Ned, recorded a year ago, available for free. It’s a wonderful, engaging conversation, and we urge you to listen if you’ve not yet had the chance.