Gala Dinner Speaker - Annabelle Gurwitch

Annabelle Gurwitch, New York Times bestselling author, actress, lung cancer survivor

Annabelle Gurwitch is a New York Times bestselling author of five books, including her most recent collection of essays ,“You’re Leaving When? Adventures in Downward Mobility” a New York Times’ Favorite Book for Healthy Living 2021. Ms. Gurwitch has written for The New Yorker, New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal amongst other publications, she was a regular commentator on NPR and her acting credits include serving as the long time host of the fan favorite Dinner & a Movie on TBS, a regular commentator on American National Public Radio, acting appearances include: "Seinfeld," "Dexter," "Better Things," "The Shaggy Dog," and most recently, Michael Bay's action extravaganza "Ambulance." She co-hosts the Tiny Victories podcast on the Maximum Fun Podcast Network, a weekly fifteen minute podcast dedicated to cultivating an appreciation of minor accomplishments and small mercies.

Ms. Gurwitch has been an activist for numerous causes including environmental sustainability and housing insecurity. In the Spring of 2020, a routine Covid test led to diagnosis of stage iv non-small cell lung cancer. Ms. Gurwitch wrote about the diagnosis in a widely shared op-ed, "Covid Saved my Life" in the New York Times. Since then, she's spoken and written about living with lung cancer on Good Morning America, and in interviews on Salon.com, NPR, and numerous other media outlets. Most recently, her cancer chronicles include the viral op-ed "The End of my Life was Killing Me" and "Tackling Cancer While Battling the Insurance System" an op-ed highlighting predatory practices in the American Health Insurance industry, both for the Washington Post. She lives in Los Angeles, California.