Community Corner

'Daily Show' Writer, Obama Speechwriter Killed In Eastern PA Accident

The four-time Emmy winner also wrote some of President Obama's lines for the White House Correspondent's Dinner.

Kevin Bleyer, 54, a former "Daily Show" writer and speechwriter for President Obama, was killed in a crash in Pennsylvania over the weekend.
Kevin Bleyer, 54, a former "Daily Show" writer and speechwriter for President Obama, was killed in a crash in Pennsylvania over the weekend. (Frank Micelotta/Invision for Academy of Television Arts & Sciences/AP Images)

Award winning "Daily Show" writer and speechwriter for President Obama, Kevin Bleyer, was killed in an accident in northeastern Pennsylvania over the weekend, his family confirmed in an announcement.

Bleyer, 54, crashed on a rural road on Sunday, Oct. 25 in the community of Millrift, just a few miles from the tri-point border with New York and New Jersey.

Bleyer worked on more than a thousand episodes of Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" from 2005 to 2013, winning four Primetime Emmys for his work, his IMDB page shows.

Find out what's happening in Across Pennsylvaniafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

He later penned numerous speeches for President Obama, including multiple appearances at the White House Correspondent's Dinner.

"I was in awe of his intellect, dazzled by his wit, amazed by his fearlessness and spirit of adventure, besotted by his loving heart, and smitten by his beautiful blue eyes," his wife, Nella Vera, wrote this week. "I feel incredibly lucky to have shared the past decade with such a brilliant, complicated, funny, stubborn, and wonderful man."

Find out what's happening in Across Pennsylvaniafor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Further details on the accident have not yet been released.

Earlier in his career, Bleyer worked for the Dennis Miller Show and contributed to writing the Academy Awards in 2006 and 2008.

"He had many public accomplishments and awards throughout his long and successful career, but to me, he was my soulmate, my partner in crime, and the one who made life so much more fun," Vera added.

She said that donations to the Alzheimer’s Association New York City Chapter, where Bleyer was a volunteer, would be welcomed in his memory.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.