In this episode, I chat with Annabelle Gurwitch about her career in acting, speaking, and writing, her experience with SPY (Safe Place For Youth), her first publishing story, and her new book You're Leaving When?
Annabelle Gurwiitch is a New York Times Bestselling author, actress and activist whose most recent collection of essays You're Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility is a 2021 New York Times Favorite Book for Healthy Living, a Good Morning America Must Read and a finalist for The Thurber Prize for American Humor Writing 2022.
In both her speaking and writing, Annabelle uses personal stories and humor to illuminate issues in the social zeitgeist including "harnessing resilience and learning how life’s disappointments can teach you about the things that matter most” (Tara Parker Pope, New York Times).
She's written for The New Yorker, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and Hadassah amongst other publications. Her five books include The New York Times bestseller and Thurber Prize finalist I See You Made an Effort.
She was the longtime cohost of Dinner & a Movie on TBS and a regular commentator on NPR. She's performed on the Moth Mainstage, at Carolines on Broadway, and at arts centers around the country. Her acting credits include: Seinfeld, Murphy Brown, Boston Legal and Dexter and once in while she returns to acting playing a rabbi on Better Things on FX or a therapist for an FBI agent in Michael Bay’s Ambulance.
She's been featured in Time Magazine’s annual “10 Ideas That are Changing the World,” GMA, Real Time with Bill Maher, CBS Early Morning, Oprah, and PBS Newshour.
Annabelle had been chronicling living with stage iv lung cancer and inequities in healthcare in the New York Times and Washington Post since her out-of-the-blue diagnosis during covid. She's given patient advocate talks at scientific conferences around the globe including: Vienna, Rome, and Brisbane. She co-hosts Tiny Victories, a podcast, dedicated to appreciating small mercies and minor triumphs.
She's guest lectured and taught essay writing and storytelling at The School of the New York Times, University of CA Redlands graduate writing program, Miami Dade Community College, Thurber House, George Washington U, Maine Media College, and University of Dayton, Ohio.
You’re Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility, Annabelle Gurwitch
Annabelle Gurwitch: Real Time With Bill Maher