Canadian-born humour writer David Rakoff dies at 47

Montreal-born writer David Rakoff died after a long illness yesterday at the age of 47 in Manhattan. Rakoff was an award-winning humorist whose work appeared in The New York Times and Newsweek among other publications and was a contributor to Public Radio International’s This American Life. He is known for his non-fictional and sometimes autobiographical essays that are remembered for being cynical, neurotic and hilarious, while touching on everyday life and culture. 

The New York Times reports that his mother announced his death. He was also open about his battle with cancer and often wrote about it in his essays. Rakoff was born in Montreal and raised in Toronto before heading to New York, working in book publishing after studying at Columbia University. Host of This American Life, Ira Glass, wrote the following on the show's blog:

“He was my friend, our friend here at the radio show, and our brother in creating the program, making it into what it's become,” he wrote. “We loved him. We'll miss him,” The Globe and Mail reports.