Gay Humorist David Rakoff Dies At 47

The New York Times has the sad news.

David Rakoff, a storyteller who could elicit peals of laughter and tears of sympathy with his personal accounts of Christmas Day mountain-climbing, studying Tibetan Buddhism with Steven Seagal, flying on the Concorde and grappling with his frailties, died on Thursday evening. Born in Montreal and raised in Toronto, Mr. Rakoff worked in the New York book publishing industry after studying at Columbia University. He wrote for numerous publications, including The New York Times Magazine, and in the early 1990s connected with fellow humorist David Sedaris, whose essay about the yuletide trials and tribulations of playing Crumpet the elf at Macy’s he had heard him read on the radio. Mr. Sedaris and Ira Glass, the future host and producer of “This American Life,” encouraged Mr. Rakoff to produce and perform more of his material, leading to a longtime association with that Public Radio International show.

Here's Rakoff reading from Don't Get Too Comfortable.