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Long Ago and Far Away: Memories of Karen Carpenter
Talent, eating disorders, and a disordered society
Some of us have memories we’re fairly certain we will recall as our lives come to a close.
Mine isn’t very glamorous. It’s “the sandwich.”
At some point late in my junior year of college, I was well in the throes of an eating disorder. I had gone without eating for three days and my grandmother came to visit me at college.
She took me to Marie Callendar’s, where I ordered a Frisco burger. This was a hamburger with all the trimmings on grilled sourdough.
It was indescribably delicious, but after so many days of not eating, I could only manage to eat half of one half of the burger. I put the rest in a to-go container.
We left the restaurant, located about five miles from my college dorm and she dropped me off.
Maybe half an hour later I looked for the hamburger, planning to eat the other half of a half and …
no Frisco burger
It was miles away, probably already thrown away.
I will remember that sandwich to my dying day.
The following year, I’d gotten a little bit of modeling work and was busy starving myself during the few…
