![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/static01.nyt.com/packages/flash/multimedia/ICONS/transparent.png)
Nancy Mairs in 1986. “To view your life as blessed does not require you to deny your pain,” she wrote.
Jim Hepworth
Nancy Mairs
Died on December 3, 2016 at age 73
Ms. Mairs’ encounters with mental illness, disease and religious faith found expression in a series of trenchant, intensely personal essays and memoirs.
Notable Deaths 2016
Remembering Muhammad Ali, Prince, Patty Duke, Edward Albee, Pat Summitt, Gene Wilder, Phyllis Schlafly, David Bowie, Elie Wiesel, Shimon Peres, Nancy Reagan, Arnold Palmer, Harper Lee and others who died this year.