To close out the year, The New York Times ran a collection of essays on those we had lost in 2015. This includes the great Stuart Scott, NYT columnist David Carr, and “Rowdy” Roddy Piper — Roderick Toombs since it was in the New York Times. But the most memorable of the bunch is likely Aziz Ansari’s essay about Harris Wittels. The Master Of None star has shared his memories of Wittels many times since his passing, including humorous emails and late night stories that highlight the comedic loss in Wittels’ demise.
The same can be said about Ansari’s memorial for the New York Times. In it he shares stories from the writer’s room on Master Of None, letting us get a glimpse at what it was like to know the person that clearly affected him so much:
I was Harris’s boss on ‘‘Master of None,’’ and if he had been anyone else he would have been fired immediately. He was reliably 15 to 30 minutes late and went on extended unauthorized phone breaks constantly. Once, my co-creator and I had to leave the writers’ room, so we put Harris in charge while we were gone. I later found out that shortly after we left, Harris told the room that they were done for the day, and everyone left. He was so talented and lovable that he knew all would be forgiven.
Elsewhere, Ansari shared some text messages sent by Wittels during the production of Parks And Recreation:
Before working with me, Harris spent many seasons writing for Mike Schur on ‘‘Parks and Recreation.’’ Consider how talented and charming someone must be to continue to maintain employment while engaging in texts like this:
Harris: Hey man I’m taking a [three poo emoticons] in the basement.
Mike: I’m your boss.
Harris: Found a great vacant bathroom downstairs. Be back soon. You guys keep going.
Mike: I’m tweeting this if you don’t get up here in 30 seconds.
The essay is definitely a standout among a group of noteworthy losses in 2015. There are a few omissions from the list, but seeing Wittels among the group shows how much he affected those around him. Well worth a look.
(Via New York Times)
