‘Prozac Nation’ Author Elizabeth Wurtzel Dead at 52

The literary community is currently reeling after the loss of one of their own. Elizabeth Wurtzel, the author of Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America, has passed away at the age of 52. She died on Tuesday, Jan. 7 in Manhattan after a battle with breast cancer.

The Daily Mail reported that Wurtzel originally announced her diagnosis with the disease in 2015. She subsequently underwent a double mastectomy, but the cancer eventually metastasized to her brain. She later passed away from complications from leptomeningeal disease, which occurs when cancer spreads to the cerebrospinal fluid.

Wurtzel is survived by her husband, Jim Freed.

Following the news of her passing, many flocked to her final Instagram post, which was from October 2019, to write tributes to the late author.

“Rest in Peace, dear one,” one user wrote. “Thank you for sharing your wonderful self with us, with this world. Your spirit is free!”

“hope you find some peace wherever you are now elizabeth,” another user commented.

Wurtzel previously shot to fame in 1994 thanks to her groundbreaking memoir, Prozac Nation, which chronicled her experiences with depression and drug addiction. The author also wrote for outlets such as the New Yorker and later published two additional memoirs, Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women and More, Now, Again.

Back in January 2018, Wurtzel opened up about her journey with cancer in an op-ed for The Guardian. In the piece, she expressed that she was not afraid of having cancer.

“Everyone else can hate cancer. I don’t,” she wrote at the time. “Everyone else can be afraid of cancer. I am not.”

“Do you know what I’m scared of? Nothing,” Wurtzel added. “Cancer just suits me.”

“I am good in a fight. This one goes on for the rest of my life,” she continued. “But I have been fighting with myself in one way or another all along. I am used to it. I can’t think of a time when my mind or my body was not out to get me. I am at ease with this discomfort. I am a ballerina doing a pirouette with perfect turnout in toe shoes, and it does not even hurt any more. I am elated. I love spinning this way. I would not have it otherwise.”

The author concluded her post by writing, “I am a con artist and cancer is my final con.”

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