Danielle Solzman
Todd Fisher shares his life with Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds in his 2018 memoir, My Girls: A Lifetime with Carrie and Debbie.
December will mark five years since we lost both Carrie and Debbie. While this may be hard to believe, the occasion isn’t any less saddening. When I finished this book during the fest days of Passover, I was sobbing uncontrollably. Of course, I then proceeded to start another pandemic binge of Star Wars after the first two days ended. While Carrie was a notable writer in her own right, she will forever be linked with the Star Wars franchise. After all, she was a princess and the keeper of Princess Leia.
Todd may not have lived every breathing moment with his sister and mother but he’s the one who knew them best. As such, there is nobody better to tell their story. In fact, I would argue that Bright Lights, the HBO documentary, is a companion piece to this book. While watching the film, I was like, Todd wrote about that! He even wrote about some of the filmmaking process and how Carrie had to step away during the New York Film Festival screening.
Debbie was already in bad shape prior to Carrie’s death. But in the way that Todd writes the book, you just knew. When Carrie died, it’s as if Debbie died along with her. And again, you can’t help but feel sad while reading this book.
Carrie and Todd were the children of Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. For a brief time, they were America’s Sweethearts until Eddie’s best friend, Mike Todd, died in a plane crash. Eddie ran off to be with Elizabeth Taylor and the rest is history. Debbie and Elizabeth were friends prior to this and shortly after 9/11, Elizabeth would offer to share her place with Debbie. She went even further in making sure Debbie found a plane to fly back to San Diego in time for her show!
Todd gets rather personal in writing My Girls. There are memories in this book that are more personal than anything I’ve written. If you’ve already read the book, I’m sure you know what I mean. But if you haven’t read it, I’m warning you that there is some talk in the book that might leave people feeling uncomfortable. When Todd isn’t talking about that aspect, he’s sharing memories of the two. He shares of the battles it took in getting a museum open in order to show off decades of Hollywood history. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be. Not in Debbie’s lifetime, anyway. Todd writes about Carrie’s drug use and how he wouldn’t have gotten her started on some drugs if he knew that she would become an addict.
I highly recommend reading My Girls. Todd’s perspective is one that very few people have. Because of this, we get to know Carrie and Debbie in a way that nobody else could tell us.
Thank you, Todd, for sharing your sister and mother with us. I can’t speak for others but please know how grateful I am for the memories they’ve provided me in watching their films.
