For David Carr, the reporter, editor and media columnist who died last Thursday at age 58 after collapsing in the news room of his beloved New York Times, perhaps the biggest story of his career was his own story: in the 1980s, the talented journalist descended into crack addiction, alcoholism and "mania" so severe that it ruined much of his life and nearly killed him. 
Carr recounted that harrowing period in his 2008 memoir, The Night of the Gun (Simon & Schuster has just gone back to press for another printing of 10,000), a book distinguished from other "recovery" titles because Carr approached his story the way he would any other: by researching, by interviewing pertinent people--and following the trail no matter where it went or how ugly it became.
Among the highlights of this low period: Carr left his twin daughters, at age eight or nine months, in his parked car when he went into a house to score some crack--and stayed for several hours, getting high and having no idea what he'd find when he returned to the car. Perhaps the most telling story is the one referred to in the title: as part of his research for the book, Carr interviews an old friend who once drew a gun to scare off an enraged Carr. To his astonishment, Carr learns that the old friend didn't brandish the gun--it was Carr himself.
Memory, Carr discovered, is selective, particularly regarding one's own traumatic moments. His own story turned out to be darker than he remembered, and only with the great help of friends and family was Carr able to turn his life around, kick cocaine, get off welfare, raise his daughters as a single dad--and find happiness for a time as a journalist's journalist, living in suburban New Jersey, remarried, with three children and a dream job at the New York Times.
What a story--and memory. --John Mutter, editor-in-chief, Shelf Awareness
