Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the children’s book author who recently wrote a heartbreaking dating profile for her husband while battling cancer, died on Monday, March 13, the Associated Press reports. She was 51.
“[She] was the most life-affirming person, and love-affirming person,” Rosenthal’s longtime literary agent, Amy Rennert, told the AP in a statement.
Rosenthal’s Penguin Random House publishers also released a statement saying they were “deeply saddened” by her death. “We have had the honor of working with Amy for many years, and have great admiration for her both professionally and personally. Together, we will be privileged to bring the joy of her books to adult and children’s readers for generations to come,” the statement read.
Her agent Rennert added in the statement that the writer “taught us that life’s seemingly small moments are not really small at all. Amy’s final essay, written under the most difficult of circumstances, a love letter to her husband Jason, was the ultimate gift to him and also to the rest of us. She leaves behind a legacy of love and beauty and kindness.”
Earlier this month, Rosenthal, who was diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer in 2015, made headlines for encouraging other women to date her husband, Jason, in a story for The New York Times‘ “Modern Love” column titled “You May Want to Marry My Husband.”
Rosenthal listed Jason’s hobbies and why he would be the perfect partner for someone. “He is a sharp dresser. Our young adult sons, Justin and Miles, often borrow his clothes. Those who know him — or just happen to glance down at the gap between his dress slacks and dress shoes — know that he has a flair for fabulous socks. He is fit and enjoys keeping in shape,” she wrote. “I want more time with Jason. I want more time with my children. I want more time sipping martinis at the Green Mill Jazz Club on Thursday nights. But that is not going to happen. I probably have only a few days left being a person on this planet.” (Rosenthal did a Ted Talk in March 2010.)
WMAQ-TV reported on Monday that Rosenthal was in hospice. Last month, she posted about her health on Instagram. “This cancer — oh, did I mention I have cancer? — has increasingly (and rudely) robbed me of my normal energy and focus,” she wrote on February 1, noting that she had to stop her latest project because of her condition. “There are other things I need to be tending to, creating, and focusing on with my limited time.”
Rosenthal is survived by Jason, who she was married to for 26 years, and their three children: Paris, Justin and Miles.
