Health
Melody Beattie, Author of a Self-Help Best Seller, Dies at 76
Melody Beattie, whose experiences as a drug addict, a chemical dependency counselor and the wife of an alcoholic informed a best-selling book about codependence that has guided countless people to shed toxic relationships, died on Feb. 27 in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles. She was 76.
Her daughter, Nichole Beattie, said the cause was heart failure. She had been hospitalized from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12, then evacuated from her home in Malibu because of a wildfire and moved into her daughter’s home, where she died.
By popularizing the concept of codependence, Ms. Beattie (pronounced BEE-tee) became a literary star in the self-help world with “Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself” (1986), which has sold more than seven million copies worldwide.
“You could call her the mother of the self-help genre,” said Nicole Dewey, the publishing director of Spiegel & Grau, which has sold more than 400,000 copies of the book since taking over publication in 2022.
Trysh Travis, the author of “The Language of the Heart: A Cultural History of the Recovery Movement From Alcoholics Anonymous to Oprah Winfrey” (2009), said in an interview that “Codependent No More” has succeeded because of Ms. Beattie’s common-sense approach and “vernacular charm.”
She added: “There had been other books and pamphlets published in the recovery space in the early 1980s. Melody made the same arguments, but her voice came across very clearly. It wasn’t clinical — and she had a set of ideas that could be applied to many if not all the problems one was having — and it hit the market at the right time.”
In “Codependent No More,” Ms. Beattie cited various definitions of a codependent person. She also introduced one of her own.
“A codependent person,” she wrote, “is one who has let another person’s behavior affect them and who is obsessed with controlling that other person’s behavior.”
The other person, she wrote, might be a family member, a lover, a client or a best friend. But the focus of codependency “lies in ourselves, in the ways we let other people’s behaviors affect us and in the ways we try to affect them” — by actions that include controlling them, obsessively helping them and caretaking.
Recalling her difficult marriage to her second husband, David Beattie, who was also a substance abuse counselor, Ms. Beattie described an incident when he was in Las Vegas. She telephoned him in his hotel room, and he sounded as if he had been drinking. She implored him not to break his promise to her that he would not get drunk on this trip. He hung up on her.
In desperation, she called the hotel repeatedly into the night, even as she was preparing to host a party for 80 people at their house in Minneapolis the next day.
“I thought if I can just talk to him, I can make him stop drinking,” she told The Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1988. But at 11 p.m., she stopped calling.
“Something happened inside of me, and I let go of him,” she said. “I thought, ‘If you want to drink, drink. …’ I gave his life back to him, and I started taking my own back.”
She said that was the first step in detaching herself from their mutual codependence. They eventually divorced.
Detachment, she wrote, “is not a cold, hostile withdrawal” or a “Pollyannish, ignorant bliss”; rather, it is releasing “a person or problem in love.”
When should the release happen? she asked. Her list was long. It started: “When we can’t stop thinking, talking about, or worrying about someone or something; when our emotions are churning and boiling; when we feel like we have to do something about someone because we can’t stand it another minute. …”
Melody Lynn Vaillancourt was born on May 26, 1948, in Ramsey, Minn., and grew up mainly in St. Paul. Her father, Jean, a firefighter, was an alcoholic who left the family when Melody was 2. Her mother, Izetta (Lee) Vaillancourt, owned a nursing home after her divorce, but, Ms. Beattie said, beat her four siblings. (She escaped the punishment herself, she said, because she had a heart condition.)
Melody was sexually molested by a stranger when she was 5; began drinking whiskey at 12; and started using amphetamines, barbiturates, LSD and marijuana in high school. By 20, she was shooting heroin. She also robbed pharmacies with a partner and, after being arrested, spent eight months in drug treatment in a state hospital.
After being successfully treated, she held secretarial jobs before being hired as a chemical dependency counselor in Minneapolis, assigned to treat the wives of men in treatment. Her patients were uniformly angry and focused so much on their husbands’ feelings that she found it nearly impossible to get them to express their own.
“Eight years later, I understood those codependents, those crazy codependents — we didn’t call them that, we called them significant others — because I had become one” through her marriage to Mr. Beattie, she told The Star Tribune. “All I could think and talk about was the alcoholic, what he was or wasn’t doing.” She was, she said, “filled with anger and anger because he wouldn’t stop drinking.”
While treating the women, living on welfare and writing freelance articles for a local paper, The Stillwater Gazette, she interviewed experts on codependence, hoping to write a book on the subject.
She received a $500 advance from the publishing division of the Hazelden Foundation substance abuse recovery center, now called the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation. The book was published in 1986 and spent 129 weeks on The New York Times’s advice and how-to best-seller list.
Ms. Beattie went on to write several other books, including “The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency” (1990), which has sold more than three million copies.
Writing in Newsweek in 2009, Dr. Drew Pinsky, the addiction medicine specialist and media personality, named “Codependent No More” one of the four best self-help books of all time. Ms. Beattie heavily revised it for a new edition that was published in 2022.
In addition to her daughter, Ms. Beattie is survived by two grandsons; a sister, Michelle Vaillancourt; and a son, John Thurik, from her first marriage, to Steven Thurik, which ended in divorce. John was raised by his father and maternal grandmother.
Her marriages to Scott Mengshol and Dallas Taylor, who played drums with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, also ended in divorce.
Her son Shane Beattie died in a skiing accident in 1991 when he was 12, plunging her into grief. She wrote “The Lessons of Love: Rediscovering Our Passion for Life When It All Seems Too Hard to Take” (1995) — a personal book, not a self-help guide — to describe her journey from a broken spirit to recovery.
Her first step was to write two letters, one of which said:
“God, I’m still mad, not pleased at all. But with this letter, I commit unconditionally to life, to being here and being alive as long as I’m here, whether that’s another 10 days or another 30 years. Regardless of any other human being and their presence in my life, and regardless of events that may come to pass. This commitment is between me, life, and you.”
Health
Measles-infected traveler may have exposed passengers at LAX and nearby hotel, health officials warn
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A traveler infected with measles may have exposed passengers at Los Angeles International Airport and guests at a nearby hotel after arriving in Los Angeles County earlier this month, health officials said Wednesday.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said it is investigating a confirmed measles case involving a traveler who arrived aboard Cathay Pacific Flight CX 884 on June 11. The traveler was infectious while passing through Los Angeles County, potentially exposing others at LAX and the Hilton Los Angeles Airport Hotel.
The case marks the sixth measles infection reported in Los Angeles County this year. Health officials said the risk of exposure could increase as summer travel ramps up and Los Angeles welcomes international visitors for FIFA World Cup events being held in the region.
MEASLES CASES CONFIRMED AT FOUR MAJOR US AIRPORTS ACROSS COUNTRY AMID PEAK HOLIDAY TRAVEL
A 3D illustration shows measles virus particles. (iStock)
According to health officials, anyone who was at the Tom Bradley International Terminal between 10 a.m. and noon on June 11 may have been exposed. Officials also identified a potential exposure at the Hilton Los Angeles Airport Hotel, located at 5711 W. Century Blvd., between 11:15 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. that same day.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with local health departments to notify passengers who were seated near the infected traveler on the international flight.
People who were at either location during the listed times could develop symptoms between seven and 21 days after exposure, officials said. The last day to monitor for symptoms is July 2.
AT LEAST 46 CHILDREN DEAD AMID MEASLES OUTBREAK AS VIRUS SPREADS GLOBALLY
Los Angeles International Airport is seen in Los Angeles, California. Health officials said a traveler infected with measles may have exposed passengers at LAX on June 11. (Michael Yanow/NurPhoto)
“As measles cases increase, it is important that residents take steps to make sure they are fully protected,” Los Angeles County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis said. “The MMR vaccine is the safest and most reliable way to prevent measles and protect yourself, your family, and your community.”
Travelers exit a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Monday, March 23, 2026. (Ethan Swope/AP Photo)
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Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes, followed by a rash that typically begins on the face before spreading to the rest of the body.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health for additional comment but did not receive a response.
new video loaded: Wii Bowling Takes Over Tulsa Retirement Homes
transcript
transcript
Wii Bowling Takes Over Tulsa Retirement Homes
Retirement communities in Tulsa, Okla., compete against one another in a Nintendo Wii Sports bowling league.
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“That’s how you win.” “There you go, Ron.” “Way to go.”
By Nick Oxford, Alisa Shodiyev Kaff and Alexandra E. Petri
June 19, 2026
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As the popularity of GLP-1 drugs continues to climb, significant weight loss associated with the medications has been linked to a growing list of cosmetic concerns.
Some surgeons report that more patients are seeking treatments for so-called “Ozempic earlobes,” which reportedly appear thinner, longer or more sagging after the loss of facial fat.
“The use of semaglutides causes you to lose fat across your body, including the small, fat pads of the earlobes,” facial plastic surgeon Sachin S. Parikh, MD, told NewBeauty.
OZEMPIC, OTHER SEMAGLUTIDES LINKED TO HAIR LOSS: HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW
“It’s important to note that semaglutides do not damage ear tissue or affect hearing in any way, so any intervention would be purely cosmetic,” added the California-based doctor.
Some of the potential treatments for “Ozempic earlobes” may include dermal filler, fat transfer, laser treatments or surgical earlobe reduction, according to the report.
As the popularity of GLP-1 drugs continues to climb, significant weight loss associated with the medications has been linked to a growing list of cosmetic concerns. (iStock)
Dr. Mohammed Asif from Duly Health and Care in Naperville, Illinois, said that while he hasn’t personally noticed an uptick in ear surgeries, he has seen a rise in other procedures due to GLP-1-triggered weight loss.
Some of those include panniculectomies (Ozempic skin removal surgery) and abdominoplasties (tummy tucks).
PLASTIC SURGERY TRENDS TAKE A SURPRISING TURN, AS DOCTORS SEE MORE PATIENTS ‘SIZING DOWN’
“There has been a significant increase in body contouring procedures among patients with GLP-1 weight loss,” Asif told Fox News Digital.
“In my practice, I’ve seen a significant surge in breast lifts, panniculectomies (skin removal surgery), abdominoplasties (tummy tucks), brachioplasties (arm lifts) and thighplasties due to weight loss.”
TOP COSMETIC PROCEDURES REVEALED IN NEW REPORT: WHAT’S TRENDING AND WHY
Healing and recovery are “far greater and less complicated” than with bariatric surgery weight loss, Asif noted.
“This is due to the gradual weight loss achieved over time with GLP-1s.”
“Ozempic breast” is another common complaint, according to Dr. Michael Omidi, a double board-certified plastic surgeon practicing in Beverly Hills.
“There has been a significant increase in body contouring procedures among patients with GLP-1 weight loss,” a doctor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“Women in their 30s and 40s would not typically need a breast lift, but when you’re taking drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy that cause rapid weight loss, women can see gravity take its toll on their breasts,” he told Fox News Digital.
“When women, especially younger ones, lose fat too fast, it causes the breasts, which are comprised of fat, glandular tissue and skin, to lose volume,” he went on. “The skin and supporting ligaments don’t always bouce back at the same rate as the weight loss, resulting in breasts that can appear saggy and deflated.”
NEW OBESITY TREATMENT MAY HELP PRESERVE MUSCLE DURING WEIGHT LOSS
Dr. Samuel Golpanian, a double board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, said he has seen “dozens” of patients – men and women alike – seeking treatments for so-called “Ozempic butt” after significant weight loss.
“This is an unintended consequence of taking GLP-1s,” he told Fox News Digital.
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“Such dramatic weight loss in a short period of time causes the skin not to tighten quickly enough to keep up with the body’s changes. Our buttocks have a large amount of fat, so when that volume disappears quickly, you’ll develop a flatter, saggier behind.”
“Such dramatic weight loss in a short period of time causes the skin not to tighten quickly enough to keep up with the body’s changes,” a surgeon said. (iStock)
Kristy Hamilton, MD, a Houston-based surgeon who is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), agreed that a growing number of patients are seeking skin-tightening procedures after losing large amounts of weight with GLP-1s.
“We’re absolutely seeing more of those patients, and I expect that trend to continue,” said Hamilton in an ASPS report.
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“People are losing as much as 100 pounds on this medication – and when you’re losing that amount, that’s significant. You’re certainly going to have excess skin afterward.”
The ASPS lists the following body-contouring procedures as the ones most frequently performed after substantial weight loss.
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- Tummy tuck (abdominoplasty): Removes excess abdominal skin and fat
- Lower body lift (belt lipectomy): Addresses the abdomen, buttocks, hips and thighs
- Arm lift (brachioplasty): Removes hanging upper-arm skin
- Thigh lift: Tightens excess skin of the inner thighs
- Breast lift (mastopexy): Addresses sagging, deflated breasts after weight loss
- Facelift/neck lift: Addresses facial volume loss and skin laxity after major weight loss
“People are losing as much as 100 pounds on this medication – and when you’re losing that amount, that’s significant. You’re certainly going to have excess skin afterward.” (iStock)
Experts say adequate protein intake and resistance training can help minimize the loss of lean muscle mass that often accompanies rapid weight loss, which could reduce some of the cosmetic concerns.
Golpanian also emphasized the importance of eating enough protein.
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“It can be harder since your appetite is suppressed, but it’s so important to consume at least 110 grams of protein a day while taking a GLP-1 drug,” he advised.
“Also, I say this to my patients all the time: You have to lift weights to keep your muscles from atrophying. Strength training can help build muscles and preserve your glutes.”
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