Born: Amie Nicole Harwick; May 20, 1981; Sellersville, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died: February
15, 2020 (aged 38); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death: Homicide
Burial place: Whitemarsh
Memorial Park, Ambler, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Other names: Amie
Nicole
Alma mater: California
State Polytechnic University (BA); Pepperdine University (MA); Institute for
Advanced Study of Human Sexuality (PhD)
Occupation(s): Family
and sex counselor
Organization: Pineapple
Support
Notable work: Author
of The New Sex Bible for Women (2014), ISBN 1592336418
Amie Nicole Harwick
(May 20, 1981 – February 15, 2020) was an American writer and marriage and
family therapist.
Biography
Harwick was adopted as a child. She worked as a Playboy
model and dance performer to pay for her postsecondary education. She studied
psychology at California State Polytechnic University in Pomona, earned a
Master of Arts degree from Pepperdine University in clinical psychology, a
Ph.D. from the non-accredited Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality,
and later became a licensed marriage and family therapist. Harwick was a
well-known therapist in West Hollywood, specializing in family and sex
counseling. She regularly appeared on podcasts, TV, and her YouTube channel to
discuss her work. She was the author of the book, The New Sex Bible for Women:
The Complete Guide to Sexual Self-Awareness and Intimacy published in 2014.
At the time of her death, she had started working with
Pineapple Support, an organization of sex-work-positive mental health
professionals that had been founded in late 2017 in the wake of a rash of adult industry suicides.
Personal life
Harwick and comedian Drew Carey first met at a party in the
summer of 2017. Carey posted a photo of them together on Instagram with the
caption: "The face of a lottery
winner (L)." Within a year Carey proposed to her and they became
engaged. The engagement was called off in 2018 and the split was reported as
amicable. After her death, Carey told NBC that Harwick was "A positive force in the world and an unapologetic champion of
women."
Death
On February 15, 2020, Harwick was found under the balcony of
her Los Angeles home and died after being taken to the hospital. The initial
investigation found that she had been strangled and thrown from the third floor
after a fight. The suspect, who was identified by authorities as her
ex-boyfriend Gareth Pursehouse (against whom she had filed restraining orders
twice), was arrested the next day and was charged for her murder with the
special circumstance of 'lying in wait',
breaking and entering, and home burglary. He was released under a $2 million
bail bond and arrested again after he pled not guilty on April 16, 2020. His
trial began on August 29, 2023. On September 29, 2023, Pursehouse was convicted
of Harwick’s murder and faces a potential life sentence without the possibility
of parole.
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