Harris Wittels, a rising young comedy writer, passed away this week. He was 30 years old.
Wittels, a graduate of Emerson College, started out his career doing stand-up around Los Angeles. He eventually landed a job writing for the critically-acclaimed “The Sarah Silverman Program,” where he stayed until the series’ cancellation. After that, Wittels wrote for and sporadically appeared on “Parks and Recreation,” a show that he would come to produce as well. He’s also credited with coining the term “humblebrag,” on which he also wrote a book.
Many of his former colleagues expressed their mourning. Aziz Ansari, Amy Poehler, Nick Offerman and Sarah Silverman were just a few—Ansari himself penned a long blog post commemorating Wittels.
Ansari wrote, “There are so few people that you meet in life that give you that feeling that you’ve found a real unique, original person. Harris Wittels was one of those and we lost him yesterday.”
Wittels had spoken openly about his drug addiction in the past, often in the candid, confessional style he performed in.
The day before he was found dead, he had spoken about his sobriety during a set at The Meltdown. Early reports have speculated that he died of a drug overdose, but the toxicology report is still pending.
Michael Schur, the showrunner of “Parks and Recreation” who also wrote alongside Wittels, had this to say: “I loved knowing him. And I will miss him every day.”
Bernstein is a member of the class of 2018 .
