Randy L. Schmidt is the author of Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter  (2010) and the editor of Yesterday Once More: The Carpenters Reader (2012), both published by Chicago Review Press. Schmidt will read from both books and discuss Karen Carpenter’s life and work.

Schmidt served as creative consultant for several television documentaries on the Carpenters, including those for E! True Hollywood Story, A&E’s Biography and VH1’s Behind the Music. He is also a music educator. Schmidt lives near Dallas,Texas.

Read Schmidt’s article on Karen Carpenter in The Advocate, “Karen Carpenter: Unlikely Gay Icon.” This article was published this past February on the 30^th anniversary of her 1983 death from anorexia nervosa.

Joining Schmidt for this special evening of music and memories will be Mary Edwards, a composer, musician, arranger, producer and sound artist whose projects range from recordings “evocative of epic cinematic soundtracks combined with lyrical intimacy…” (Time Out NY), to ambient installations—sound as a spatial form—that create nature, architecture and cinema for the ear. More info: https://maryedwardsmusic.com/