“Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter” by Randy Schmidt, $26.95
DENTON, Texas — He was 13 when he first saw the woman who changed his life. She was already dead.
Randy Schmidt sat perched on his mother’s couch in Cordell, Okla., transfixed by the haunting voice flowing through the television speakers. The year was 1989. The program was “The Karen Carpenter Story.”
It was six years after Carpenter collapsed in her home and died from complications of anorexia nervosa. Schmidt, a pudgy teenager who was the only male in the school choir, connected immediately to the narrative of Karen’s life. They were both misfits. They both lacked self-confidence. They both struggled with their weight.
Schmidt began researching Carpenter’s life. He spent hours in his school library poring over dusty encyclopedias. His mother took him to thrift shops, where he spent his weekends rummaging through bins of cassette tapes and vinyl records.
Twenty years later, his quest for answers has turned into “Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter” ($26.95). The Denton resident is making appearances on “Entertainment Tonight” and is speaking on talk shows and radio stations around the country.
Kirkus Reviews called “Little Girl Blue” a “dense, fact-filled treatment, which carefully skirts sensationalism while exposing new truths.”
Critics and fans have praised Schmidt for confirming the contentious relationship between Karen and her mother, Agnes Carpenter.
Karen Carpenter grew up in New Haven, Conn., as a shy, slightly overweight child, Schmidt writes. Her parents ignored her and lavished attention on her older brother, Richard. Agnes believed he was destined to become a musical prodigy.
After the Carpenters moved to Los Angeles in hopes of launching Richard’s career, Richard perfected his skills on the piano and Karen developed her own style on the drums.
After Karen began singing, the duo rose to fame, creating hits such as “Close to You” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.”
Schmidt writes that through the years, Richard overshadowed Karen despite their success. Agnes never recognized Karen’s achievements. After a decade of yo-yo dieting and sporadic bouts of good health, Karen died on a hospital gurney from cardiac arrest.
“She had a hole in her heart that could only be filled with the love of her mother,” Schmidt says.
After Karen’s death, some attempted to capture her life on screen and paper, but the family maintained strict editorial control. Karen’s parents were both dead when Schmidt wrote his book.
Richard refused to cooperate, but others in Karen’s life spoke openly to Schmidt.
He is far from the only one fascinated by the duo. The Carpenters, once scorned by critics for their pop music, have influenced scores of musicians today. Karen’s voice is regarded as transcendent and versatile.
“There is a one-to-one connection, like she’s singing it only for you,” Schmidt says. “Even now, there would be some genre that would rope her in.”
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