Ned Vizzini Writers and friends pay tribute

Chris Columbus film director and co author with Vizzini of House of Secrets and House of Secrets Battle of the Beasts

I am stunned and deeply saddened by the death of Ned Vizzini. He was the perfect collaborator with a brilliant imagination and a sharp sense of humor. I've spent nearly every day over the past two years working closely with him and I can't fathom a world without him. He will be greatly missed and my prayers are with his wife Sabra his son Felix his parents and brother.

Margaret Stohl co author of the Beautiful Creatures novels

The last time I saw Ned Vizzini he was the only person who bothered to come to a bookstore where I was signing alongside Melissa de la Cruz in Studio City. Ned who had his young son with him seemed upbeat more so than the two of us who were suffering the ignominy of an empty bookstore. His latest novel had just hit the bestseller list he had steady work in Hollywood and he said he was grateful.

But that wasn t my first encounter with Ned like so many of us I first met him on the page when my daughter brought home It s Kind of a Funny Story from the middle school library. It was as I think back one of the early tells in her subsequent battle with depression. She related to Ned s voice. As did I seeing the humanity and the humor in the struggle was Ned s gift.

And what a gift it was left on their own even in our modern post Lexapro world people don t want to hear about depression. I ve had to coin the term Big Feelings as a euphemism about both myself and my characters. But what I admire about Ned is that he never backed away from the conversation. For a guy with Big Feelings it might have been the easier thing to do. But Ned Vizzini showed up when no one else did. Ned Vizzini bothered.

Melissa de la Cruz author of the Blue Bloods and Witches of East End series

I first met Ned when we were both journalists and troublemakers at the New York Press a feisty independent newspaper in the early 1990s in New York City. He was a 15 year old high school junior with a sharp wit and a huge smile. He would attend the annual Christmas party in a flannel shirt torn jeans and still carrying his large green school backpack. We older writers (we were in our 20s and thought ourselves so sophisticated) would tease him and he would tease us right back. What's with the backpack I think our sex columnist offered to relieve him of his virginity as a joke one that we always laugh about years later. I was really proud of our kid writer he was so smart and so nice and so funny. His writing was honest and searing and hilarious.

We had lost touch over the years and our paths crossed again when Ned started writing YA novels. We reconnected in 2008 at the NCTE conference during a long and boozy publisher dinner where I was happy to find the skinny scrappy teenager I had known had grown into an affable handsome gentleman. We reminisced about our times at the Press and had a wonderful time getting to know each other again as grownups.

What can I say about Ned He was one of the nicest and sweetest people he understood pain and he was a kind person because of it. He expressed joy and gratitude for the small things. He was earnest. It is such a great loss especially to his lovely wife and his beautiful son.

Rest in peace Ned. You were such a loving person. You will be sorely missed. I'm still proud of you.

Rachel Cohn author of Beta and co author of Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Read carefully. On the surface Ned's writing seems pretty straightforward. He wrote with great accessibility in a fairly simple style (by which I don't mean dumb I mean remarkably clean). But when you dig deeper his work had exceptional depth of feeling and thought lurking within. When I read his work I always thought I knew where he was going (as if I'm so jaded to know every writer's trick) and he never failed to surprise and delight. The simple style revealed sentence construction and layers of feeling that were as intense and intelligent as Ned was. How it hurts that he succumbed to the very disease he'd done so much to educate readers about and help them through. He was truly a unique person and writer but his books will live on to help generations.

Cecil Castellucci author of The Odd Duck and Plain Janes

Ned Vizzini was a talented funny brilliant ambitious and generous guy. He talked about anything and everything about process about feelings about demons. If he felt it or thought it he talked about it.

That is his real legacy. If you ever saw him speak or read you know that he could dig deep and mention dark things and he somehow made you feel OK about your own dark places. He could even make you laugh about them everyone in a room laughing together. He was honest and he shared his vulnerability with the world. That was his gift to us.

Aaron Hartzler author of Rapture Practice

The thing I'll remember most about Ned was his generosity especially with the teens in any audience. We did several panels together at LA Times Festival of Books and watching him light up when a young person who'd read his work asked a question was a unique experience. He could talk about tough issues with a wry smile. He never underestimated or talked down to his teen readers. As a new writer I had many questions and Ned was also very generous with his time for me and his advice on publishing and TV alike. He had a way of treating other less experienced writers as peers. He was one of the most approachable writers I have ever met. I will sorely miss the instant sense of pal ship he brought to our every exchange.

ALSO

Writer Ned Vizzini has died at 32

David L. Ulin's best books of 2013

Two Canadian cities have world's best public libraries survey finds

Articles Source here