Self-help radio hosts found dead of apparent suicide

A motivational speaker and a psychotherapist couple were found dead in their Brooklyn home on Monday, police say

Published June 5, 2013 5:34PM (EDT)

Lynne Rose and John Littig  (YouTube via New York Daily News)
Lynne Rose and John Littig (YouTube via New York Daily News)

A motivational speaker and a psychotherapist couple who hosted a self-help radio program were found dead in Brooklyn on Monday of an apparent suicide, the New York Daily News reports.

Lynne Rosen and John Littig hosted a monthly radio show on WBAI called "The Pursuit of Happiness," described as a program about “personal development and growth.”

An excerpt from the April show includes Rosen and Littig discussing the value of change in life, with Rosen explaining that "people get scared to make changes, right, and to step out of that comfort zone."

"Alternatively, you can get comfortable with change," Littig responded.

"Yeah, I like that," Rosen said. "That's great."

"No change, no life," Littig replied.

Neighbors suspected something was wrong after noticing a strong smell coming from the couple's apartment and reported it to the super of their Park Slope brownstone.

Other residents on the block were shocked by the news: "I knew them for many years," an 87-year-old neighbor told the Daily News. "They were always respectable."

The neighbor called Littig "an exceptionally nice person" and the "salt of the earth."

Police have not commented on the details of the case.


By Katie McDonough

Katie McDonough is Salon's politics writer, focusing on gender, sexuality and reproductive justice. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com.

MORE FROM Katie McDonough


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Brooklyn Crime New York Psychotherapy Self-help Suicide