Humorist and essayist David Rakoff died yesterday at the age of 47 after a three year battle with cancer. A frequent contributor to This American Life, Rakoff authored the essay collections Fraud (2001) Don't Get Too Comfortable (2005) and Half-Empty (2010).
Rakoff's longtime editor at Doubleday, Bill Thomas, said: "The world is a little less kind and a little less beautiful today. There were hundreds of reasons to love David. He was of course incredibly charming, witty and learned, a brilliant raconteur with the quickest mind imaginable, but most of all he was a generous soul. Though his life was cut infuriatingly short, it was rich beyond measure."
Rakoff's longtime editor at Doubleday, Bill Thomas, said: "The world is a little less kind and a little less beautiful today. There were hundreds of reasons to love David. He was of course incredibly charming, witty and learned, a brilliant raconteur with the quickest mind imaginable, but most of all he was a generous soul. Though his life was cut infuriatingly short, it was rich beyond measure."