Popular Author Ned Vizzini, Dead at 32

21 Dec, 2013

Ned Vizzini, a popular young adult author and television writer who wrote candidly and humorously about his struggles with depression, has committed suicide. He was 32.

Vizzini jumped off the roof of his parents’ home in Brooklyn on Thursday, said his brother, Daniel Vizzini. New York City’s medical examiner’s office confirmed Friday that Vizzini took his own life and had sustained blunt impact injuries consistent with a fall. Daniel Vizzini said his brother had battled mental illness for much of his life and had “taken a turn for the worse” in recent weeks.

Ned Vizzini’s autobiographical novel “It’s Kind of a Funny Story” was adapted into a feature film of the same name. A resident of Los Angeles in recent years, he was a prolific author of fiction and nonfiction and spoke around the country about mental health and the healing effects of writing. On his website, he recommended Andrew Solomon’s “The Noonday Demon” and the Dalai Lama’s “The Art of Happiness” to readers coping with depression.

“At his signings, countless kids would approach him to say that he changed their lives – he gave them hope,” his longtime publisher, Alessandra Balzer of Balzer + Bray, said in a statement Friday. Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins.

The movie version was released in 2010 and starred Keir Gilchrist, Zach Galifianakis, Emma Roberts and Viola Davis.

Vizzini’s other books include “Be More Chill” and “The Other Normals,” both of which told of young people who feel like outsiders. This year, he and filmmaker Chris Columbus debuted a trilogy of young adult fantasy books, “House of Secrets.” The second installment had been completed and is scheduled for March. No decisions have been made about the third book, according to his publisher.

Vizzini also was working on the NBC series “Believe,” a project co-created by J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron. His other TV writing credits include “Teen Wolf” and “Last Resort.” A musical adaptation of “Be More Chill” has been in the works.

Asked once why he wanted to be a writer, he responded: “I knew that I wanted to be a writer because I wanted to do something that had the potential to outlast my own death.”

He is survived by his wife and one son.

Image Courtesy of e.E. Charlton-Trujillo from her documentary At-Risk Summer.

AP

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