Last Day

“In this book, both heartbreaking and life-affirming, Stephanie Wittels Wachs combines poignant personal history with research-based science, compelling character vignettes and vivid anecdotes—all leavened with humor. She guides the reader from grief to passionate empathy, presenting judicious treatment possibilities and well-tested policy recommendations. This book will open many eyes and will save lives.” —Gabor Maté M.D., New York Times bestselling author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction “A brave, tender book about addiction, grief, and the love that refuses to give up. Last Day calls us toward compassion, evidence-based care, and the practical hope we need to walk through the darkest moments with the people we love.” —Kate Bowler, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason and professor at Duke Divinity School “We have to talk the talk before we can walk the walk — and Last Day gives us every word we need. As an addiction medicine physician, I have spent my career trying to explain what Stephanie Wittels Wachs conveys here with devastating clarity and grace: addiction is a disease, treatment is not thirty days, relapse is not failure, and the goal is not just survival — it is a beautiful life. Stacked with experts and lived experience, this book moves from Education to Compassion to Hope, which is exactly the sequence that saves lives. Last Day is the book I will hand to every patient, every family member, and every colleague who is ready to stop doing what hasn’t worked — and start doing what will.” —Dr. Nzinga Harrison, addiction medicine physician, co-founder of Eleanor Health, and author of Un-Addiction “An honest, empathetic and ultimately encouraging examination at the biggest public health crisis of our time. Steph manages to be funny without being glib, to educate without being preachy and hopeful without being naive. There’s not a person in America who hasn’t been touched by the opioid crisis, whether they know it or not. This book is both a mirror showing us how we got here, and a rallying cry to move us towards change.” —Nora McInerney, host of Thanks for Asking and author of The Hot Young Widows Club

Stephanie Wittels Wachs is cofounder and CEO of Lemonada Media, an award-winning podcast network on a mission to “make life suck less.” She created and hosts Last Day, Lemonada’s Webby, Gracie, and Third Coast Award–winning flagship show. Its first season focused on the opioid crisis, which took the life of her brother, writer-producer-comedian Harris Wittels (Parks and Recreation, Master of None).

Wittels Wachs is also the author of the bestselling memoir Everything Is Horrible and Wonderful: A Tragicomic Memoir of Genius, Heroin, Love, and Loss, which Kirkus Reviews hailed as a “a powerful debut.”

Wittels Wachs serves as an executive producer across Lemonada’s slate of chart-topping podcasts, including Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus, which was named Apple’s Best Podcast of the Year.

She lives on California’s central coast with her husband, two kids, two dogs, and an ungodly amount of houseplants.

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