Everything is Horrible and Wonderful
Tuesday, October 23, 2018 - 6:30pm to 9:00pm
Open Mind Lecture
Everything is Horrible and Wonderful
Stephanie Wittels Wachs
One phone call. That’s all it took to change Stephanie Wittels Wachs’ life forever.
Her younger brother Harris, a star in the comedy world known for his work on shows like Parks and Recreation, had died of a heroin overdose. How do you make sense of such a tragic end to a life of so much hilarious brilliance?
In beautiful, unsentimental, and surprisingly funny prose, Stephanie Wittels Wachs alternates between her brother’s struggle with addiction, which she learned about three days before her wedding, and the first year after his death, in all its emotional devastation. This compelling portrait of a comedic genius and a profound exploration of the love between siblings is A Year of Magical Thinking for a new generation of readers. It will make you laugh, cry, and wonder if that possum on the fence is really your brother’s spirit animal.
Stephanie Wittels Wachs is a writer whose work has been featured on Vox, Longform, Huffington Post, Fatherly, Mamamia, Babble, and Medium. Other significant roles include mother, theatre artist, educator, and voice actor. She is co-founder of Rec Room Arts, a non-profit arts organization committed to developing innovative work across disciplines.
Dr. Timothy Fong, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA will join Ms. Wittel Sachs in discussion. Dr. Fong is an Addiction Psychiatrist, the co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program, the director of the UCLA Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, Founding Member of the UCLA Cannabis Initiative, and supervises trainees in the UCLA Addiction Medicine Clinic.
Tuesday, October 23, 2018
6:30PM Check-in | 7:00 PM Program
Tamkin Auditorium, UCLA (see map)
Admission is free but reservations are required.
