Laura Rothenberg
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{short description|American writer}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| name = Laura Rothenberg
| caption =
| other names =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1981|02|03}}
| birth_place =
| alma_mater = Brown University
| death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|2003|03|20|1981|02|03}}
| death_place =
| occupation = Author
| nationality = American
| movement =
| notable_works = Breathing for a Living
| website =
}}
Laura Elizabeth Rothenberg (February 3, 1981 – March 20, 2003) was an American author. She wrote a memoir describing her life with cystic fibrosis called Breathing for a Living.
Biography
Laura Rothenberg was born February 3, 1981{{Cite web|url=https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/index.php/articles/2007-06-22/i-might-not-be-there|title=I Might Not Be There|last=Harvey|first=Charlotte Bruce|date=July–August 2003|website=Brown Alumni Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}} and she grew up in New York City. Shortly after birth she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a fatal disease with varying life expectancy.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2003/07/06/brief-candle/dd32c18d-2d28-42c6-a313-e0b8917665ef/|title=Brief Candle|last=Merullo|first=Roland|date=July 6, 2003|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=May 7, 2019}} Goddaughter of Debra Winger,{{Cite web|url=http://www.today.com/popculture/breathing-living-1C9013201|title='Breathing for a Living'|website=TODAY.com|date=October 8, 2003 |language=en|access-date=2019-05-08}} Rothenberg attended The Chapin School{{Cite web|url=http://andrewsolomon.com/articles/the-amazing-life-of-laura/|title=The Amazing Life of Laura|website=Andrew Solomon|access-date=2019-05-08}} in Manhattan and then Brown University where she studied English until the deterioration of her cystic fibrosis forced her to withdraw and she decided to pursue a lung transplant, though it posed its own health risks. She received a double lung transplant at age 20,{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1147844|title=My So-Called Lungs|last1=Rothenberg|first1=Laura|date=August 5, 2002|website=All Things Considered|publisher=National Public Radio (NPR)}} in July 2001. In the spring of 2002, she returned to Brown where she took a course on autobiographical writing, beginning writing that formed the basis of her later memoir.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/articles/2007-06-22/mail-room-3|title=Mail Room|last=Rothenberg|first=Jon|date=September–October 2003|website=Brown Alumni Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-05-09}} She also began recording audio of her experience when a radio producer, Joe Richman, lent her a tape recorder. Rothenberg's audio diary, My So-Called Lungs: A Young Girl's Diary of Living with Dying from Cystic Fibrosis, aired on NPR on August 5, 2002.
File:Breathing for a Living.jpg
Health again forced Rothenberg to withdraw from Brown in November 2002 and on March 20, 2003, she died of chronic rejection of the transplant.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/22/nyregion/no-headline-889784.html|title=No Headline|last=Vila|first=Vicki|date=March 22, 2003|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-05-08|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Her memoir was published posthumously by Hyperion on May 12, 2003. Breathing for a Living describes her fight with cystic fibrosis and her decision to pursue a double lung transplant. A starred review in Publishers Weekly said, "Refusing to indulge in even a wisp of false hope or consolation, Rothenberg reminds us that there is a power in us that is greater than even the greatest suffering...an unforgettably real testament of the strength of one human spirit, and of our common human wish to know and say and be the truth.{{Cite web|url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4013-0059-3|title=Nonfiction Book Review: BREATHING FOR A LIVING: A Memoir by Laura Rothenberg, Author . Hyperion $22.95 (237p) ISBN 978-1-4013-0059-3|date=May 12, 2003|website=Publishers Weekly|language=en|access-date=2019-05-08}} In The Washington Post, Roland Merullo wrote, "Those in the grasp of a fatal illness will recognize themselves here – the loneliness, the pain and hope – as will family members and friends. The rest of us, so often oblivious to our good luck, might be moved to set the book down between chapters and put our complaints in perspective."
List of works
- "My So-Called Lungs", All Things Considered, NPR, August 5, 2002
- Breathing for a Living, Hyperion, 2003 {{ISBN|1-4013-0059-6}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1199420 My So-Called Lungs: A Young Girl's Diary of Living and Dying from Cystic Fibrosis on NPR]
- [https://www.today.com/popculture/breathing-living-1C9013201 Excerpt] from Breathing for a Living on The Today Show website
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rothenberg, Laura}}
Category:Deaths from cystic fibrosis
Category:People with cystic fibrosis
Category:Brown University alumni
Category:Chapin School (Manhattan) alumni
Category:Writers from Manhattan
Category:Lung transplant recipients
Category:20th-century American memoirists
Category:20th-century American women writers