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I first read With Love from Karen years ago when I was home sick with pneumonia. When I was well enough to go to the library, I checked out the author’s first book, Karen, and basically read the story of the Killilea family in reverse.
To summarize, Karen was born (in 1940) three months premature and wasn’t expected to survive. She spent her first nine months in what would now be called a neo-natal intensive care unit, and when she finally went home her parents noticed that something was amiss with their daughter. Her limbs seemed unusually stiff, she never rolled over in her crib, nor did she make an effort to reach for the toys offered to her. Several years went by before they were able to get a diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy, and even more time elapsed before they found a specialist who could treat Karen. Marie worked tirelessly to find and unite other parents of CP children and eventually helped to found the Cerebral Palsy Association.
Over the years, I’d occasionally re-read WLFK and wonder whatever happened to Karen and her family. I checked out the title at Amazon.com and found that there were lots of other Karen readers out there who were wondering the same thing. I sensed a research project, and spent many hours online and in the library. I found out that there was still much tragedy ahead for the Killilea family.
A large part of WLFK focused on the love story between Gloria (Karen’s eldest sister) and Russ, who had to wait seven long years (due to Russ’ annulment of a previous union and the couple’s desire to marry in the Catholic church) before Pope Pius XII gave them permission to be married. The births of their first two children, Mary deLourdes and Evelyn Ann, were mentioned in the book, as was a very detailed description of the “Little Red House” in Yorktown where Glo and Russ lived. Sadly, that charming house built in the 1700s and described in minute detail by Marie (“everything was dry and there was that sweet odor of time that only really old houses have”) turned out to be deadly; one late night in 1968 a faulty wire in the kitchen ignited a fire that quickly spread throughout the ancient wooden frame of the house. Gloria was able to rescue her two sons, but Mary and Evelyn were trapped on the third floor, along with their cousin Michelle Smiley (daughter of Little Marie), and the three children perished in the blaze.
Glo and Russ were married for just over 40 years and died within three months of one another in 2001/02. They are survived by their two sons. Little Marie divorced Ronald Smiley and eventually remarried. Rory is married and lives in Seattle. Kristin married her high school sweetheart, Simon Viltz, and lives in Illinois. Karen lives on her own in a specially equipped apartment and works as a secretary at a Catholic Retreat. Big Marie died in 1991 of respiratory failure (she’d previously battled two bouts of lung cancer), and her beloved husband, Jimmy, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, passed away two years later.
So that’s the follow-up story behind one of my favorite books. What are your favorite “based on a true story” or biographical books? Do you have a particular story that you once read and have occasionally wondered “I wonder whatever happened to….?” This is your opportunity to send the mental_floss staff on a research mission and perhaps enlighten many other readers who have similarly wondered in silence.
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I used to read the Karen books as well. I’ve always been intrigued by kids who had physical problems and whose parents fought for them.
A book in a similar vein (but much shorter) was Run Away Little Girl by Marilyn M. Segal. She wrote about her youngest daughter Debbie who had cerebral palsy and who underwent rigorous “patterning” therapy. I gather Marilyn went on to write a number of books about child care and education, but have no idea what happened to the daughter.
There was an interesting article on the Segal family’s donation of art to Duke here (check it in Google – I can’t share the link with you due to a peculiarity of your comment software)
posted by Laurie Mann on 10-1-2008 at 2:30 pm
Ever since I discovered that ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ is actually based on the story of one family and that the head of that family, Frank Gilbreth and his wife and their efficiency and motion studies, I’ve been interested to know whatever has happened to the remaining siblings. I believe one of the children came to the Midwest to study and if I remember correctly, to Purdue University, which is where I studied. I would be interested to hear more about the family!
posted by ann on 10-1-2008 at 3:02 pm
Have wonder about the Lund family, as I read a book about Eric Lund who had lukemia in the late 60’s early 70’s what became of them when Eric passed on.
posted by Tony on 10-1-2008 at 3:57 pm
David Pelzer the subject of “A child called It”. One of the worst cases of child abuse ever….
posted by Vickey on 10-1-2008 at 6:12 pm
I once read a book about a girl in the 50s who was on a ski team, I think maybe the national ski team, and she got paralyzed from the neck down in a race. The book covered her recovery and ability to become a teacher. For that era her accomplishments were amazing. I wonder where she is? Her name was Jill Kinmont.
I read her biography when I was homeschooled because of an illness. She was pretty inspiring! Taught me I could still go to college despite my illness!! And I did, and now I am working on graduate school. :)
posted by Lelah on 10-1-2008 at 7:44 pm
I read a book about the Anderson quintuplets that followed from the parents marriage to the kids being in first grade. I think they were from Oregon. There was a part about Redbook paying for an interview that helped expand their house. And T. Berry Brazelton studied the kids. This was in the seventies, so the kids would be in their 30’s.
posted by Jo on 10-1-2008 at 8:14 pm
Vickey,
Dave Pelzer is the author of 6 books, two of which were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Find out more about him at his website davepelzer.com.
posted by bzzyb on 10-1-2008 at 10:02 pm
Did anybody read “David” by Marie Rothenberg and Mel White? It’s about a little boy (David Rothenberg) whose father sets fire to him in a motel room to avoid returning the boy to his mother. It was a terribly moving story – came out in 1986, and there was a made-for-TV movie in ‘88 starring Matthew Lawrence as David. I wonder how David is doing now.
posted by Lynley on 10-1-2008 at 10:39 pm
“Karen” was one of my favorite books when I was a teen. I still have a copy. Thanks for this update!
As for other books, I’ve always wondered about the descendants of the people in “… And Ladies of the Club” by Helen Hooven Santmyer. Santmyer fictionalized the lives of a cousin or something and the cousin’s best friend. Santmyer herself appears in the book towards the end.
posted by Gus Oltz on 10-1-2008 at 11:01 pm
Ann, I’ve read every book I can find written by Frank Jr, Ernestine and Lillian. There’s a webpage about them (gilbrethnetwork.tripod.com/dozen) but it doesn’t list who went to Purdue.
I absolutely REFUSE to watch the “remake” of the movie. It’s rubbish!
posted by Meri on 10-1-2008 at 11:25 pm
Vickey: He actually went on to write a total of three books about his abuse. I have not personally finished one (I started A Child Called It but it was a friends’ library book). I used to work in a bookstore and I’d see these all the time. The first book was released 13 years ago! The series itself ended almost ten years ago.
Wiki includes ISBNs so go check out your local Barnes and Nobel/Borders/Half Price Books/Books-a-Million!
posted by Taryn on 10-2-2008 at 6:46 am
“Room For One More” — all those kids.
posted by Mike Jackson on 10-2-2008 at 7:05 am
Thanks for the update! I read the Karen books, too, when I was a kid. They were fairly new then.
posted by Miss Cellania on 10-2-2008 at 7:32 am
I don’t even think the recent Cheaper by the Dozen can even be called a remake (I agree, the recent one is terrible as is its sequel.) The only thing the movies have in common is 12 kids and a title. It’s a shame really because the story of the Gilbreth family is so poignant.
They did make a sequel in 1952 based on the sequel to the book, Belles on Their Toes. It follows what happened to the family after Frank Sr dies and the struggles of Lillian providing for the family (discrimination at the time made it harder for anyone to take her seriously, it was 1924.)
posted by Li on 10-2-2008 at 8:45 am
The Doss family from The Family Nobody Wanted. I’ve been unable to find much on the real family
posted by Liz B on 10-2-2008 at 10:09 am
Ihave read almost all three of the books of Dave Pelzer and they were page turning and intense….he actually ended up getting married and having his own child…he and his wife split but remained close and he spends lots of time with his child and is not abusive as he fought to not be like his mother….
Another really good read is “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden”..it is a autobio of the author and her bout with mental illness, specilically schizophrenia. It is a vivid story and very beautifully written.
posted by Jennifer on 10-2-2008 at 10:25 am
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden was a fascinating book. Unfortunately, the movie they made of it in the late ’70s was a really mixed bag. Kathleen Quinlan was brilliant in the lead, but the adaptation was strange.
posted by Laurie Mann on 10-2-2008 at 11:31 am
Pictures or it didn’t happen
posted by Jammy on 10-2-2008 at 1:05 pm
Jammy, that B & W photo above is an actual newspaper picture of The Little Red House in flames.
posted by Kara on 10-2-2008 at 1:48 pm
To the person who asked about Purdue, in Belles On Their Toes they talk about how Bill, the second born son, studied engineering at Purdue. If you haven’t had a chance to read this sequel to Cheaper By the Dozen I really recommend it for more info on the family.
As of now it looks like only one of the siblings is still living. Ernestine and Bob both died in 2007 but so far I haven’t seen any information about Fred who was listed as surviving them in their obituararies. How odd it must feel to be the last one from such a big family.
posted by Susan on 10-19-2008 at 2:24 pm
Several decades ago, I read a book called “Yours Is The Earth,” about a woman and her toddler daughter, Rose-Helene, who escaped from the Nazi and Fascist occupations of Europe during WWII, making their way from one country to another and over the Alps, and to freedom. Her courage, initiative and endurance were remarkable. (One particular day’s ration consisted of a peach and a bottle of Evian water.) I often wondered if she and her husband were able to reunite, and what Rose-Helene’s life might have been like, after the war, but didn’t know where to begin to research.
posted by Evelyn on 8-16-2009 at 5:45 pm
Thanks for the update on the Killilea stories. I just finished \Karen\ again after a period of many years, only this time through the eyes of a mother. I always fall a little in love with this family and their big hearts.
What about \Dibs, In Search of Self\ ? I just loved that story and I was grateful for his emotional healing.
posted by Marlene on 9-23-2009 at 4:34 pm
I read “The Incredible Journey” when I was a kid, about dogs and cats who made it back home by traversing hundreds and thousands of miles. Now, I know these animals haven’t been alive in a long while, but I wonder if the story was really true.
posted by Sandi Wisenberg on 11-2-2009 at 10:18 pm