Norah Vincent died on July 6. She was 53. Her death was not reported until August. Norah died in Switzerland. It was by assisted suicide. I interviewed Norah three times. She practiced immersion journalism and that took a toll on her. In her first book, Self-Made Man, she described what it felt like to live as a man. Norah went to great lengths to disguise herself as a man. After she did that she discovered something unsettling, that being a man was difficult. Norah was a lesbian but not transgender. That book became a best-seller.
During the period she was living as a man she became profoundly depressed. Her depression became so severe that she entered a psychiatric facility. That's when she got the idea to commit herself to some facilities for treatment and then write about her experiences. The result was her next book, Voluntary Madness. I interviewed Norah about it. After that she began publishing fiction. She wrote a couple of novels and we did additional interviews for both of them.
Norah thought often about suicide. During our conversations we talked about it. Her final novel was the result of the author channeling Virginia Wolff, the English writer who took her own life by filling her pockets full of stones and then walking into a river. Norah felt a deep connection with Wolff. While she was working on that project Norah tried to take her own life. She could become very involved with her projects. Some might say, too involved.
The last few times I communicated with her we exchanged some e-mails. She had been working on a book about Samuel Beckett. I don't think she ever completed it. While she was doing that she became deeply involved in a musical project related to Beckett. That eventually became a full music album which was released a few years ago.
I'll miss you Norah. You're finally freed from your pain.
Here are some excerpts from our interviews.
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