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Author & Loudmouth

Godspeed, Ned

Picture
Godspeed,
          Ned Vizinni


On Christmas Day it’s hard not to think of the suicide nearly a week ago of the talented and tortured YA author, Ned Vizzini, and the emptiness his loved ones must feel today.  Little has been left unsaid by my (and his) gracious and articulate colleagues and I am tempted to bow my head and wish his soul a silent Godspeed as it rockets into the universe.  But some of the public responses to his death compel me to add some thoughts.

The folks who suffer the same crushing depression from which Ned must have suffered, understand, and their responses seem the most eye-opening and revealing.  The responses that bother me are those calling him selfish for leaving a young wife and son without a husband and father, or for committing the act from the roof of his parents’ house or simply for committing the sin of taking an early exit.

My years as a therapist working with abuse and neglect families taught me at least one important lesson for my own life.  Never judge until you can see through the eyes of that person you are judging, and then…never judge.  There but for the grace of chance go any of us.  When I was able to help clients who were experiencing what Ned probably experienced – and there were many times I could not – I could only tether myself to all in my life that was good and leap into the abyss with them– provide a witness – secure in the belief that, whether or not we could find a way to their light, my tether would hold.  It always did.

I was lucky.

There are those who believe life is sacred, that suicide is a sin.  There are those who call it a selfish act that doesn’t take into account the pain of those left behind.

But those responses say far more about the responders than they say about Ned Vizzini.  As much as we’d like to think life is sacred, there’s not a lot of evidence for that.  The universe is maddeningly casual giving and taking it.  Nothing about life is sacred until we make it so.  Each of us.  Our own individual lives.  And sometimes from inside that awful blackness it simply isn’t possible.

Rather than think Ned Vizzini stole from his wife, a husband or from his child, a father, I prefer to consider his bravery.  In the face of that dreadful darkness, he brought love to a woman and life to a child for as long as he could.  He wrote stories that allowed many who shared in that paralyzing experience to find connection, and so feel less alone; stories in which his characters found strength he ultimately could not find.

There are fates worse than death.

I didn’t know Ned.  I don’t know if he could have been saved.  I do feel cheated.  When I read It’s Kind of a Funny Story and when I saw the movie, I knew a powerful, embracing voice had emerged in our profession and I wanted more.

But he stayed as long as he could.

So Godspeed, Ned Vizzini.  We know more now than we did before you put words to paper and some of us will use that knowledge to reach back to ease the pain of those who walk in your shoes.



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  • Home
  • Contact
  • Biography
    • Press Kit
    • New Author Photos 12/2011
  • NCTE/ALAN 2013 Q&As
  • Crutcher-Price Blog
  • Crutcher Speeks
    • Update Bantleman/Tjiong
    • Nod to Gnuts
    • Hip-Hop
    • Good Day...
    • Gun Referendum
    • Free Neil and Ferdi >
      • Freedom!
      • A Summary
      • Joko Widodo
      • Another Open Letter
      • Open Letter
      • To All Canadians
    • Responsi-damn-bility
    • Whacking on Your Children >
      • Peterson Abuse Images
    • Piling On
    • Biopsy Biography
    • Walter Elevated Us All
    • Different Direction
    • Parenting Guidance
    • Goodbye, Ned.
    • Happy Birthday, Crutch!
    • Forrest Bird Charter School
    • Senator Portman
    • My Gun Rant
    • Maybe Now (Guns & Mental Health)
    • Support Your Local Pragmatist
    • So You Want to Be a Righter
    • Philosophy and Humanity
    • We Are Paterno
    • Boy Scout "Leadership"
    • Thoughts on McQueary
    • To Meghan Cox Gurdon/WSJ
    • India 2011
  • Author Visits
    • Presentation Praise
    • Scheduled Events
  • Crutcher Books
    • Period 8 (2013)
    • Angry Management (2009)
    • Deadline (2007) >
      • DEADLINE Defense Materials
    • The Sledding Hill (2005)
    • KOTMF (2003) >
      • KOTMF Extras
    • Whale Talk (2001) >
      • WT Defense Materials
      • WT Turning Japanese
    • Ironman (1995)
    • Sarah Byrnes (1993) >
      • SFFSB Defense Materials
    • Athletic Shorts (1991)
    • Deep End (1991)
    • Chinese Handcuffs (1989)
    • Crazy Horse... (1987)
    • Stotan! (1986)
    • Running Loose (1983)
  • Other CC Books
  • For Educators
  • Angus -- The Movie
  • Older News Briefs
  • Photo Albums
  • Scrapbook
  • CC Videos
  • Student Projects
  • Censorship
    • Chinese Handcuffs 2014 >
      • Chinese Handcuffs PRESS
    • South Carolina 2011 >
      • SC 2011 Article
    • Wisconsin 2010
    • Kentucky 2009
    • Delaware 2009
    • Indiana 2009
    • Six Rounds -- Oct 2008
    • To Mark -- Sept 2008
    • Delaware 2008
    • Ohio 2007
    • Iowa 2007
  • Banned Book Videos
  • Teens CAN Stop Censors
  • Banned Books Week
    • BBW Interview 2013
    • Oct 2011 BBW Article
  • Extras!
  • CC Press
  • Letters to CC
  • Movie News