from CNN
Elizabeth Wurtzel, a controversial writer whose work will live on
Opinion by Holly Thomas
The opposite of controversial is irrelevant. So believed Elizabeth Wurtzel, who was herself controversial and will remain relevant for years to come. Wurtzel, a journalist, lawyer and author of “Prozac Nation,” died this week of complications from breast cancer. She was just 52.
Her obstinance in the face of her cancer diagnosis was almost uncomfortable to see. Last year, in a column for the Guardian, she nonsensed everyone who had told her “sorry” about her illness, declaring: “Everyone else can hate cancer. I don’t.”She continued: “I like the person I am with cancer and because of cancer…. I evolved. I am a student of curing the brokedown mirror that shards the brain.” She became an advocate for testing for the BRCA genetic mutation, which she unknowingly carried and which caused her cancer. As was typical in her previous writings about depression, feminism and other topics, she made no allowances for deviating perspectives. She gave only hers.