Posted on 11/02/2023 9:35:23 AM PDT by Red Badger
Singer Karen Carpenter passed away 40 years ago at the age of 32. She was anorexic and it killed her. Now author Lucy O’Brien has revealed additional details in her new book, “Lead Sister: the Story of Karen Carpenter.”
According to an excerpt shared by the Hollywood Reporter, Carpenter and her brother, Richard Carpenter, formed the duo “The Carpenters.” They were hit musicians who were even invited to meet then-President Richard Nixon in 1972.
But O’Brien’s book offers a closer look into Carpenter’s struggle with body image. The text detailed how “Anorexia had become a tyrannical force in her psyche, telling her that food was an enemy to be fought.”
The passage went on, “Thoughts of food and the methods to eliminate it had become obsessive, dominating her day and disrupting her sleep. ‘It’s like being haunted,’ she said.”
After struggling with previous treatment methods, Carpenter hired psychotherapist Steven Levenkron in the summer of 1982. He was a “nurturant-authoritative” and considered a controversial aid at the time.
Levenkron moved in with Carpenter and realized she was using laxatives to purge her body of food and stay thin. She also admitted to abusing a thyroid medication to boost her metabolism.
Levenkron confiscated the medication and worked to help her for months. During one breakthrough session, Carpenter is said to have stated, “I don’t need any care,” adding, “I’m successful like this.”
But her doctor would not be deterred. He pointed out, “But you do need care because you are incompetent … because you can’t keep yourself alive.” This shocked and upset her.
She weighed 77 pounds and experienced health issues that required hospitalization. When she was released, she gained 20 pounds and even celebrated Thanksgiving with her family by eating and celebrating her recovery.
She declared herself cured, but Levenkron warned that recovery would take years. Carpenter wanted to get back to work.
Unfortunately, between Thanksgiving, and that following January, her health began to fail. She ended up hospitalized in February of 1983 where she passed away due to her severe anorexia.
Truth and Accuracy
Anybody know if Richard Carpenter s still around?
Such a shame. She had a beautiful voice, she was my favorite female vocalist.
Goodbye to Love
/
Lyrics
I’ll say goodbye to love
No one ever cared if I should live or die
She definitely had a unique voice and her range was exceptional..............
When the greats “pass on” ... I always wonder what great music we missed. What songs didn’t she sing yet? So Sad.
Still with us:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Carpenter_(musician)
Just a heartbroken soul with the voice of an angel.
And no slouch on drums.
I adored her. She’s still at the top of my list of female pop singers.
1. Karen Carpenter
2. Patsy Cline
3. Aretha Franklin
4. Anne Murray
5. Linda Ronstadt
Opinions vary, I know. That’s kinda my preferred array of sounds.
I always forget that!
I wonder how much of how much of her condition reflected lessons learned from her mother at an early age. Hard to believe that she got into Anorexia without some sort of influence happening in her life.
That’s a good list. I differ on one of the list, but I can’t come up with a better replacement.
Even Buddy Rich complemented her drumming.
Swap Alison Krause for Murray and Anita Baker for Franklin and I’m with you.
She was also a hell of a drummer:
Very sad story. May the good Karen RIP.
Yep. My personal fave drummer.
I always gasp when I look at some of her last TV interviews. She was basically a skeleton with some skin.
I’ve been a huge fan of the Carpenters since I was a kid. Karen’s voice was incredible, and she knew how to use it so beautifully. Richard’s arrangements were incredible as well.
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