John Nash remembered for fight against mental illness

MONROE , N.J., May 25 (UPI) -- John Nash Jr., mathematician and subject of the book and film "A Beautiful Mind," was remembered by friends after his death Saturday for working to erase the stigma of mental illness.

Nash, 82, and his wife, Alicia, died after the taxi in which they were traveling struck a guardrail and then another car on the New Jersey Turnpike, in Monroe Township. They were ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, after returning home from the airport following a trip to Norway where Nash received the prestigious Abel Prize from the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

The co-awardee of the 1994 Nobel Prize in Economics, Nash was regarded as a mathematical genius at an early age. His success, subsequent descent into schizophrenia and his recovery were the subject of "A Beautiful Mind," a book by Sylvia Nasar and an Academy award-winning 2001 film starring Russell Crowe.

"John's remarkable achievements inspired generations of mathematicians, economists and scientists," the Christopher L. Eisgruber, Princeton University president said Sunday, "and the story of his life with Alicia moved millions of readers and moviegoers who marveled at their courage in the face of daunting challenges."

Nash and his wife cared for a son, John, who was also diagnosed with schizophrenia, and were active in New Jersey advocacy organizations dealing with mental illness.

"The loss of John and Alicia is a tremendous loss on so many levels. The courageous work they did in fighting stigma ... by lending their very private life story to the movie and the unauthorized biography," Debra Wentz of the New Jersey Association of Mental Health and addiction agencies told the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger. "There are many elements that make their life compelling and loss so much greater."