Elizabeth Wurtzel papers

Elizabeth Lee Wurtzel was born July 31st, 1967 in New York, New York. She was raised Jewish and attended The Ramaz School in Manhattan. As described in her memoir Prozac Nation, Wurtzel struggled with mental illness from an early age. Wurtzel’s parents divorced when she was young, and she learned later in life that her biological father was famed photographer Bob Adelman. Wurtzel attended Harvard University from 1985-1989, where she committed herself to a career in writing. She wrote for the Harvard Crimson, and was published in Rolling Stone during her undergraduate years. Following graduation from Harvard, Wurtzel wrote for various publications in New York City, and published her first book, Prozac Nation in 1994, a confessional memoir of Wurtzel’s struggles with mental illness and addiction in her early life and while at Harvard. Prozac Nation was a New York Times Bestseller and was adapted into a film in 2001 starring Christina Ricci. Wurtzel published Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women in 1998, and More, Now, Again in 2001 as a follow up to Prozac Nation, chronicling her struggles with Ritalin addiction. In addition to her books, Wurtzel published numerous articles and essays throughout her career, often on the subjects of mental illness, addiction, and music. Wurtzel attended Yale Law School from 2005-2008 and worked briefly as a lawyer in New York City. Wurtzel met James Freed in 2013. The two married in 2015 and later separated, but remained close. Wurtzel was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015 and died from complications of the disease on January 7th, 2020.