David Rakoff, 1964-2012

Humor writer/essayist David Rakoff has died from cancer, confirmed by his brother, comedian Simon Rakoff, via Facebook. He was 47.

In addition to his three books – Fraud, Don’t Get Too Comfortable, and Half Empty – Rakoff was a regular contributor to This American Life, and in May appeared in the This American Life Live stage show where he spoke about life after being diagnosed with cancer in 2010, and losing use of his left arm to the disease.

His moving performance can be heard in the episode “Invisible Made Visible”, via the This American Life website.

Edit – The New York Times posted a full obituary Friday morning: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/11/books/david-rakoff-award-winning-humorist-dies-at-47.html