Hi Fans,

And a Happy New Year, We wish for each of you a New Year that is filled with peace prosperity, happiness and the best of health. Your faithfulness, loyalty and support throughout the years and your letters which offered praise, encouragement and criticism have been deeply appreciated. Carpenters Books of Memories which now number well over 100 are bulging with greeting cards, clippings, pictures, poems, stories, art-work, post-cards and letters from the four corners of the earth. Their collection of stamps removed from your letters has grown to two large volumes. You have devoted endless hours with infinite patience creating beautiful objects of craft art which revealed fantastic creative abilities. Knitting, crocheting, painting, writing, embroidering, sculpturing, sewing, eggury, jewel-art, and numerous other crafts have arrived in the form of afghans, aprons, jackets, sweaters, necklaces, rings, statues, pictures, poems, stories, plays, scripts, songs, sofa pillows, original comic books, hand-made greeting cards, etc., etc., etc. Karen, Richard, Mom & Dad are fully aware of the time and patience involved in creating these beautiful items and appreciate the thoughtfulness, generosity and love which is evident in all the lovely items. In sharing your activities, honors and accomplishments with us we have found there is a great variety of talent among our fans, in numerous fields including cultural arts, athletic sports, home-making arts, collection hobbies, racing of all types, animal husbandry, gardening and construction. (If you have an unusual hobby or talent, let's hear about it.) All of us - the Carpenter Family and Staff congratulate you on your accomplishments and wish you great success in your chosen fields and we thank you for your continuing loyalty and support.

Passage has received excellent reviews and many of you have requested that Sweet, Sweet Smile be released as a single. By the time you read this letter, it should be in your music stores. Last week it already made the Easy Listening Chart, entering at 48 from the Passage album.

Carpenters recent engagement at MGM in Las Vegas was cut short when Karen caught cold and had laryngitis so bad it gave her a very sore throat which also affected her vocal chords. She could barely whisper, let alone talk or sing. Trooper that she is, after a couple days in bed, she kept her promise to tape a spot for the up-coming ABC Anniversary Special.

For years you have been requesting information concerning the writer of the Newsletters, so at long last, here is a thumbnail run-down on Ev.

I was born and raised in Waukesha, Wisconsin and graduated from Waukesha High School. Because of my interest and participation in the high school "Mask & Wig" Drama club, I earned my school letter and was elected to the National Honor Society. This I achieved by writing, producing and directing one act plays. I also wrote poetry, short stories and scripts (radio). I also gave readings and was called on to do so by various local clubs and other schools. Years later I spent several years as Drama Director for the MIA Organization of the LDS Church, of which I am a member.

I studied tap, ballet and toe dancing for five years and taught beginning tap for three years. Changing to a Milwaukee School for professional dancers I was immediately placed in a professional chorus line and sent out on engagements. Marriage and World War II put an end to my dancing career. I worked at the Waukesha Motor Co., to help the war effort until my enlisted husband completed his basic training and came home on his first furlough. Then like many other war wives, I followed him from camp to camp with our three small children (a daughter and 2 sons) until he was sent overseas to Germany. I returned to Waukesha and worked in another defense factory this time the Micheal Yundt Co., a bottle washing machine company that had converted to manufacturing small carriageable oxygen tanks for fighter pilots and 57 MM shells for offensive tank battles. The war was responsible for dissolving many marriages and mine was one of them. A second marriage a few years later brought another daughter, but that marriage too, dissolved when she was 13 years old.

From my high school days to the present, I've held a variety of jobs; store clerk (Woolworth's), newspaper want-ad writer (Waukesha Freeman), stock clerk (Wailesha Motor Co.), inspector (all phases of 57 MM shells at Micheal Yundt Co.,), foundry worker (sorting motor parts at International Harvester Co.), Dietitian's assistant (St. Mary's Hospital in Reno), Nurses' Aide (Washoc General Hospital in Rena) Invent Control Coordinator (Naval Ammunition Base, Hawthorne, Nevada) Stock control expedite (Eastern-Columbia Dept. Store in LA) Classified Document Librarian and Material Control Procurement expediter (North American Aviation in LA & in Downey.)

It was at North American Aviation that I met Mom Carpenter. She worked with me about a year and then took over my job when I was promoted. She invited me to her home to hear K & R practice and was totally unprepared for what I heard. I expected the usual teen-age rock and roll musicians and had braced myself for an evening of what expected to be rock music. What I heard was two brilliant teen-agers who made beautiful music flow from a drum set and a piano and the voice of an angel emitting from this 16 year old girl. Then I asked them why they weren't recording their lovely music they related to me the many disappointments they'd encountered when they were told that their music would never sell. Then the break came and they started touring, Mom Carpenter asked me to set up some kind of book-keeping system to keep track of their earnings and expenses for each gig. I did this to the best of my ability, working in their home every night to set up forms, pay all bills and divide the remaining money between them and their back-up group which numbered three at that time. As their engagement fees grew and their concerts were performed more frequently, I became more and more concerned about their income tax and advised them to hire a professional accountant and/or a tax expert. By the time one was hired, I was performing many other secretarial chores for them , including the organization of their fan club. Also by this time the Apollo contract that North American had with the government came to an end and I was one of several thousand personnel to be laid off. (Mom Carpenter had been laid off a couple years prior.) I had worked for North American Aviation for over fifteen years, but I was not reluctant to leave and take the job as Carpenters full time secretary. I hold the honor of being their first employee. My duties are many and varied. There are a few routine chores to fulfill weekly and monthly but most of the work consists of numerous interesting projects to maintain. Books of Memories is one of these projects.

At home I keep busy with several hobbies. I love to do Crewel Embroidery work and I also make Shadow Boxes. I also have a doll collection which expanded from two dolls that I've had since 1955 to the change-over of a bedroom into a doll room. When the mood strikes I still write poems, stories and scripts just for the fun of it. I have a cabinet full of material I've written but have no time to try to market any it. One of my greatest pleasures is my grandchildren. I have 11 ranging in age from 6 months to 13 years old.(Kevin, the 13 year old has earned all of his merit badges and will be made an Eagle Scout in the very near future.) I love to read and watch TV preferring comedy shows rather than violence. My favorite food is baked chicken and fresh tomatoes and most kinds of fresh fruit (especially red raspberries). My favorite color is red. I love animals and have a 12 year old Cockatoo who thinks she is a people. In high school I was a member of the acappella choir and in grade school I once won the prize for being the best harmonica player in a harmonica class of 50.

Richard's stay in the hospital that you read about recently was a very brief one. He was just plain exhausted from too much work and not enough sleep so he decided a few days in a hospital away from all work and telephones would help him get the rest he needed. It worked and he is fine now. He and Karen will be at Harrahs at Lake Tahoe February 16 through the 23rd. Then back to MGM Grand in Las Vegas March 2 through 15. There are no cross-country or foreign tours on their 1978 itinerary but they are scheduled to tape another TV Special.

Richard received a Grammy nomination. It is for best instrumental arrangement accompanying a vocalist for his work on Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft. We all hope he will receive the Grammy Award for this, don't we?

The beautiful colored Christmas photos of K & R taken from their TV show a sell out. But for those of you who missed buying some at Christmas time, we have ordered a few more. You certainly don't want to miss placing a set of those in your Carpenters scrapbook or framing them for your wall or dresser. They are beauties.

Will try and have another question and answer session in the March Newsletter.

Rap then, EV.

Last changed: Tue Jul 19 07:26:33 EDT 2005