A Princess and an Author: Carrie Fisher Taken Too Soon

Posted on December 28, 2016

Fans are in mourning after the news that actress and bestselling author Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60. She suffered a major heart attack while flying home from London to Los Angeles. Although she was given CPR on the plane and was taken immediately to the hospital upon landing, she never regained consciousness. Her daughter, Billie Catherine Lourd, had her publicist confirm the sad news.

Ms. Fisher was in Europe promoting her latest book The Princess Diarist, and did a number of interviews and television appearances alongside her beloved French bulldog, Gary. The book was inspired by her diaries and journals that she recently rediscovered. She kept the diaries when she was only 19 years old and was filming the original Star Wars. She revealed in the book that she had an affair with a then-married Harrison Ford who played Han Solo in the film. Although she had many other roles and careers as a successful author and script doctor, she said that playing Princess Leia in Star Wars was the role that defined her in the public eye.

A brilliant and funny writer, she was outspoken about her struggles with bipolar disorder, and her addiction to drugs and alcohol. She thrilled Star Wars fans when she returned as Princess Leia (who is now a General) in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. She has already wrapped her role in Episode VIII, but was supposed to have a major role in Episode IX. That film does not begin pre- production until next year, so it is unclear if they will rewrite the role or seek permission from her family to recreate her character digitally, as they did with Peter Cushing in Star Wars: Rogue One.

As an author, she is best known for Postcards From the Edge, which was later turned into a feature film with Meryl Streep playing her and Shirley MacLaine playing a thinly disguised version of her mother Debbie Reynolds. Her book Wishful Drinking was turned into a one woman show. She took to Twitter enthusiastically and would share her thoughts on various subjects, including being a woman who dared to age in the public eye.

She was known for her pithy one liners and was always self-deprecating. She once noted about her drug use, "You know how they say that religion is the opiate of the masses? Well, I took masses of opiates religiously." As for her epitaph, she once said, "No matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra."

Image: Penguin Random House