Carol Burnett - Carrie and Me

The New York Times bestselling memoir from legendary comedienne Carol Burnett is a loving, poignant ( People ) tribute to her eldest daughter, Carrie Hamilton. The daughter of one of televisions most recognizable and beloved stars, Carol Burnett, Carrie Hamilton won the hearts of everyone she met with her kindness, her quirky humor, and her unconventional approach to life. After overcoming her painful and public teenage struggle with drug addiction in a time when personal troubles were kept private, Carrie lived her adult life of sobriety to the fullest, achieving happiness and success as an actress, writer, musician, and director before losing a hard-fought battle with cancer at age thirty-eight. Now Carol Burnett shares her personal diary entries, photographs, and correspondence as she traces the journey she and Carrie took through some of lifes toughest challenges and sweetest miracles. Authentic, intimate, and full of love, Carrie and Me is a funny and moving memoir about mothering an extraordinary young woman through the struggles and triumphs of her life.ReviewIts hard to put into words just how deeply this book touched me. It made me laugh, cry and everything in between. Simply wonderful. A beautiful tribute to a remarkable daughter written straight from the heart by the mother who loved her. If you have ever loved a child, read this book. Heartbreakingly funny, sad and wise. Both mother and daughter will live in your heart long after you finish reading. (Fannie Flagg ) Through her openness and honesty, Carol Burnett is an inspiration. While reading Carrie and Me , Id think, How can a person who gave the world so much pleasure have had to endure so much pain? No, life isnt fair, but in Burnetts wonderful book we are reminded of what gets us through: love. (David Sheff author of Beautiful Boy and Clean) Powerful, poignant and moving. (California Bookwatch) In a beautiful and poignant tribute to her late daughter, Carrie Hamilton, actress and comedienne Carol Burnett has written a funny and moving memoir about mothering an extraordinary young woman. (Life After 50) Carrie and Me serves as an inspirational piece that can aid any parent struggling with raising or losing a child. (Examiner.com) Full of touching, funny stories that are all the more enjoyable for reflecting the authors sensibility and voice. (AVClub.com) Burnetts touching tribute to her daughter is an opportunity to read a talented and celebrated comedian being serious about a tragic life story. (Splitsider.com) A highly recommended mothers tribute that will bring tears to most readers eyes. (Library Journal) A poignant tribute...pulling no punches...an intimate portrait of a sometimes challenging, always loving mother-daughter relationship. (Booklist) Loving, poignant. (People) Intimate...heartbreakingly moving. (Readers Digest) Hauntingly beautiful and heartfelt. (FoxNews.com) A poignant and, of course, funny look at a life cut too short. (New York Post) The worst thing for a parent is to outlive a child. The bravest thing a parent can do is to write a loving, funny memoir of her daughter who overcame teenage problems with drugs and living in a superstar parents shadow to forge her own showbiz career before dying of cancer at 38. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) Carrie and Me is certainly a memorial, but its more a celebration of [Carrie Hamiltons] life than a somber elegy . . . Affecting. (Tampa Bay Times) With humor and poignancy, the celebrated comedian remembers her vivacious and sometimes troubled daughter. (Sacramento Bee) Inspiring . . . A fitting tribute. (Fort Myers Florida Weekly) About the AuthorCarol Burnett is a highly acclaimed actress known for her roles on stage and screen, most notably The Carol Burnett Show. She has been honored with twelve Peoples Choice Awards, eight Golden Globes, six Emmy Awards, The Kennedy Center Honors, and the Mark Twain Prize for Humor.From BooklistBeloved comic actress and author Burnett has penned a poignant tribute to her late daughter, Carrie Hamilton. Pulling no punches, Burnett details Carries youthful struggles with drug addiction and her long, hard journey through rehab and beyond. After successfully emerging from the dark years, Hamilton forged a successful, independent career for herself as both an actress and a writer. Before she died at age 38 of lung cancer, she asked her mother to complete Sunrise to Memphis, the story she had been working on before her illness exacted its final toll. Unable to do so, Burnett came up with an alternative, fashioning an intimate portrait of a sometimes challenging, always loving mother-daughter relationship by combining correspondence from Carrie with her own anecdotes and memories. As a bonus, Burnett provides the unfinished Sunrise to Memphisa fitting tribute to her talented daughters creative life. --Margaret Flanagan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Excerpt. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.Carrie and Me PREFACEIn late 2000, my daughter Carrie Hamilton was working on a story, Sunrise in Memphis, writing in her small Colorado cabin. The story was about a bohemian girls strange road trip to Elviss Graceland with a mysterious cowboy. Carrie planned to turn it into a screenplay eventually. Because she felt a kinship with Kate, her main character, Carrie (being a free spirit and somewhat bohemian herself) decided to hit the road and take the same trip for research purposes. So she got out her maps, filled the gas tank in her Jeep, and headed south toward Memphis. She e-mailed me fresh pages of the story almost daily, along with tales of her own adventures on her journey to Graceland. As a side trip, Carrie visited our familys old stomping grounds in San Antonio, Texas, and Belleville, Arkansas, since the two of us were writing a play together based on my family, who came from those parts of the country. Carrie didnt live to finish either project. She died of cancer a little over a year later at the age of thirty-eight. This book has taken me on a bittersweet journey. When she was in the hospital for the last time, Carrie asked me to finish Sunrise in Memphis for her, which I havent been able to do. Try as I might, the characters in the story were hers to write, not mine. Carries request had been living with me for over ten years when I finally figured out what I could do. Fortunately, I had saved all of the letters and e-mails we wrote to each other during her road trip to Memphis. In Part One of this book Ive combined that correspondence with my own memories. These include a few episodes Ive written about before, but I feel they bear repeating to round out the order of events. Ive also written here about Carries brave fight against her illness. Part Two is Carries story Sunrise in Memphis, which is fun to read in its own right, but also eerily echoes Carries journey. This book is my way of honoring her last request, bringing to the page many of Carries thoughts and feelings and also my own journey with her, including all the ups and downs in the early years (which got pretty bumpy when Carrie became a teenager). Carrie was widely known as a magnetic young woman with a stunning smile, an infectious laugh, a throaty voice, and the soul of a poet. She was someone who cared deeply for others, particularly for those less fortunate. Whenever a homeless person approached her, she would offer them a deal: five dollars if they told her their story. As youll see, Carrie used those stories, and the personal narratives shared with her by everyone she met, as inspiration for her prose, her poetry, her music, her lyrics, and her acting. Carrie piled so much into her young life that one can only imagine what she would have tackled and accomplished in the second half. For myself, I hope you will get to know the daughter I loved and cherished. I can honestly say that just about everyone who knew Carrie loved her. Maybe thats because she loved them right back. I also hope Ive succeeded in bringing Carries essence to these pages. I treasure her words, and even after reading them again and again, each time I am grateful for the reminder that she has never left me. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.