In the basement of the Carpenter family home in New Haven, Connecticut, there were swings that hung from the rafters. A sign emblazoned "Richie's Music Corner" sat next to a stack of alphabetised records, the strains of Nat King Cole and Perry Como the accompaniment as Richard and Karen swung the afternoons away while doing homework.
Tall, gangly Richard, the elder by three years, was fascinated with musica love passed down from his father, Harold, who introduced his son to the classics. Richard was a piano prodigy, and his parentswho took on a car-washing business for extra cash - poured money into top tutors and the best piano their money could buy.
Karen, meanwhile, was more interested in dance and sport. She was short and stocky compared to her shy and introverted brother. When Richard got into schoolyard fights, it was Karen who would front up to stop them.
"She'd take on all the roughnecks and make them leave Richard alone," their mother, Agnes, would recall years later.
For Karen, it was clear who the star of the family was - and it wasn't her.
"Within the family there were some interesting dynamics," Randy Schimdt, author of Karen Carpenter biography Little Girl Blue, said in a 2010 interview.
"From the time Richard was a young child, he was figured to be the musical superstar of the family and everybody else was there to support him. They moved cross country from Connecticut to California to further his music career and Karen began playing drums to accentuate her brother's musical career.
"There were a lot of friends who said she felt second-best in the home, that she couldn't live up to what her brother was doing."
Bu hikaye Australian Women’s Weekly NZ dergisinin April 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Australian Women’s Weekly NZ dergisinin April 2024 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
PRETTY WOMAN
Dial up the joy with a mood-boosting self-care session done in the privacy of your own home. It’s a blissful way to banish the winter blues.
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
The unseen Rovals
Candid, behind the scenes and neverbefore-seen images of the royal family have been released for a new exhibition.
Great read
In novels and life - there's power in the words left unsaid.
Winter dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of budget-concious recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the cold weather blues away.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Former ballerina'sBATTLE with BODY IMAGE
Auckland author Sacha Jones reveals how dancing led her to develop an eating disorder and why she's now on a mission to educate other women.
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO START
Responsible for keeping the likes of Jane Fonda and Jamie Lee Curtis in shape, Malin Svensson is on a mission to motivate those in midlife to move more.
