Dear Carrie Fisher

I am writing about a personal issue that you have many times spoken of very publicly. The most recent being when you were on the "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" radio show on NPR. You again spoke of Elizabeth Taylor and how she destroyed your parent's (Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher) marriage. That happened in the 50's and you were but a toddler. And this show was in 2009. It is quite obvious you were extremely affected by this.

Carrie, you need to know that Liz Taylor did not break up your happy home. You have lived your whole life not knowing the truth, that Debbie surely has known for a long time. Eddie never loved your mom. There was no happy family for Liz to destroy. Here is how I know:

Way back in the mid-50's when I was a teenager (I think about 17) living in South Florida, I walked over to visit two of my friends, Cecelia and Margaret. They were teen-aged sisters (Cece being older than me by about two years)who spent every summer in Florida but lived their lives in the Bronx. When they came to the door, CeCe was crying and Margie looked very upset. They told me they had just received a letter from Eddie. I asked, Eddie who? They said it was from their best friend from the Bronx, Eddie Fisher who now lived in Hollywood.

After they let me in, they handed me the 4 page letter. The writing was very small and I think it was printed in pencil. They said don't bother reading the whole thing, just the bottom of the last page.

This is what it said: "I am going to marry Debbie Reynolds. I don't want to marry her. I don't love her. I don't even like her. But my agent says it will be good for my career. love Eddie". Being a teenager who believed in true love and marriage, it nearly made me cry too. I realized that CeCe was in love with Eddie and probably expected to marry him someday. CeCe was in fact as cute as Debbie, petite, red-haired, a bathing suit model, and sweet as could be. Pretty much the description of Debbie except I think Debbie was a blond at the time. But CeCe was not famous.

Let me tell you, it made my heart heavy, especially when the movie magazines announced the wedding. I hate to say this, but it made me sad when you were born because I knew you would have a very difficult time once the truth came out. And I knew it would. Eddie soon found another way to boost his career, or so he thought, by marrying Liz Taylor. Poor Liz had just lost the love of her life in a plane crash so I doubt if she was thinking very clearly when she married that jerk who is your father.

So there you have it, Carrie, believe it or not. That is up to you but I hope the truth will bring you some peace as you have had a pretty rough time of it dealing with what Eddie has wrought with his self-centered superficial self. I know you are taking care of him now and I say, good for you. But please know the truth about him.

OK, I take most of that last paragraph back. Now that I have put into type what I have been thinking for a long time, I had an epiphany. It was not Eddie's fault at all. He was, in fact, a wet-behind-the-ears kid from the Bronx who was taken under the wing of his agent. I now realize the bad marriages and bad career choices rest solely on the shoulders of his agent. That man was surely the cause of Eddie's ruination.