Miriam Engelberg
Miriam Linda Engelberg (January 7, 1958 – October 17, 2006) was a graphic novelist and illustrator, whose battle with metastatic breast cancer was chronicled in her bestselling comic memoir, Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person. Engelberg was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia but raised in Lexington, Kentucky as a Quaker. She began practicing Judaism during college and later converted to Catholicism.
Also recorded as Miriam Linda Engelberg
Miriam Engelberg
- Name
- Miriam Engelberg
- Born
- 7 January 1958
- Birthplace
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Died
- 17 October 2006
- Place of death
- San Francisco, California, U.S.
- Field
- Cartoonist, illustrator, blogger
- Spouse
- James Gormley
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- comics artist · draftsperson
- Fields
- cartoonist
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Miriam Linda Engelberg (January 7, 1958 – October 17, 2006) was a graphic novelist and illustrator, whose battle with metastatic breast cancer was chronicled in her bestselling comic memoir, Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person. Engelberg was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia but raised in Lexington, Kentucky as a Quaker. She began practicing Judaism during college and later converted to Catholicism.
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Documentary evidence
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Authority files
wikidata · Q3316038 · wikipedia · Miriam Engelberg
In this article
Biography
Biography
She referred to herself as a "Catholic-Quaker-Jew". She worked as a teacher which provided fodder for her and a friend, Gayle Schmitt, to write and perform a black comedy, Spit Out Your Gun, It's School Policy. In 2001, at the age of 43, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She observed the harrowing and difficult experience she had with cancer treatment. These observations, drawn in Engelberg's primitive style, would eventually be published as Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person. In August 2006, she revealed in her blog that her cancer had spread to her brain, and she was receiving palliative care through home hospice.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Miriam Engelberg • Born — 7 January 1958 • Birthplace — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. • Died — 17 October 2006 • Place of death — San Francisco, California, U.S. • Field — Cartoonist, illustrator, blogger • Spouse — James Gormley • Children — 1
Works
Works
• Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person, HarperCollins, New York City • Welcome to Planet501c3: Tales from The Nonprofit Galaxy, CompassPoint • Accidental Techie: Supporting, Managing, and Maximizing Your Nonprofit's Technology, amazon.com Her work was also published in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Nonprofit Quarterly, and CASE's Currents Magazine.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1958
Miriam Engelberg was born on 7 January 1958.
2006
Miriam Engelberg died on 18 October 2006.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Miriam Engelberg was born at Philadelphia.
Birthplace
Miriam Engelberg died at San Francisco.
Deathplace
Philadelphia.
Birth place
San Francisco.
Death place
Death and legacy
Miriam Engelberg died on October 17, 2006, aged 48. She was survived by her husband and son. As a staff member at CompassPoint Nonprofit Services, she served as both a technology trainer and resident cartoonist. Her cartoon Planet 501c3 was the first cartoon series depicting life in the nonprofit sector. She was credited with coining the term "accidental techie", describing many of her students who had a role as technology experts in small nonprofits despite having little or no formal training in technology. The term is widely used in the nonprofit sector and was inspiration for the book Accidental Techie: Supporting, Managing, and Maximizing Your Nonprofit's Technology.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Miriam Engelberg”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3316038: Miriam Engelberg
General reference · Wikidata
Citations
References
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reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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