A new memoir written by acclaimed author Will Schwalbe details his unlikely friendship with Berwyn native and Haverford graduate Chris Maxey. We Should Not Be Friends is the latest work of Schwalbe, who wrote the best-seller, The End of Your Life Book Club, writes Benjamin Shull for The Wall Street Journal.
The New York-born author who started Yale as a classics major joined a secret society where he made unlikely friendships.
“The environment proved conducive to breaking down barriers. “Perhaps I didn’t care to know Maxey,” he writes, “but fortunately the matter was taken out of my hands.”
The book follows the decades-long friendship between the unlikely pair of Schwalbe and Maxey.
Schwalbe was involved in the Gay Men’s Health crisis and worked for AIDS hotlines as a volunteer. Maxey couldn’t be any different, often described as a “beer-guzzling” wrestler.
Schwalbe moved to Hong Kong after graduation where he met his husband. During that time, he took freelance writing jobs for travel publications. He eventually settled in New York where he started writing books.
During that time, Maxey served in the Navy SEALS, then later worked as a teacher and wrestling coach. He eventually got married and raised four children.
The pair stayed friends throughout the decades.
“Maxey,” Schwalbe writes, “helped me realize that people you don’t like aren’t always who you think they are, even when you are quite sure.
Read more about the unlikely friendship in The Wall Street Journal.
Will Schwalbe on “We Should Not Be Friends”
Editor’s Note: This post about Will Schwalbe’s book first appeared on VISTA Today in March 2023.
