E. Carey deceased

Ernestine Gilbreth Carey died Saturday...obituary today in the Times.

I published the most obsessive article in the world about Cheaper by the Dozen in our paper a few years ago (a first version appeared in my zine), about the central fact that there only were ever eleven children in that family, since one had died. The article was the result of years of research, sparked by littlekid book obsession, writ large. At the very end of the process, literally, I ended up interviewing Ms. Carey via email--a big push into actual journalism, that, at least as far as I could go. I had researched and researched this thing in every way I could, but in the end I had to ask the source (encouraged my editor). It was a combination full circle/brave new world/slightly anticlimactic/wait, there's more kind of experience. Very interesting.

I like Cheaper by the Dozen a lot, it should be noted--hence some of the obsession--even if I thought her brother was a better writer. I'm not sure if she saw the article or not before she died, but I was worried about her seeing it--in the end it felt very honest and real but maybe sort of unnecessary, I imagined, from her POV. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe I'm not cut out for the chips-falling aspect of journalism, if you can attribute any to that piece. Neh, I'm glad I wrote it. But still--sad.