David Carr, a media columnist for the New York Times with deep Minnesota roots, collapsed Thursday at work and died a short time later at a New York City hospital, the Times has reported on its website. He was 58.
Longtime Twin Cities and NYC media figure David Carr dies
February 13, 2015 at 4:04AM
Carr was born in Minneapolis and grew up in Minnetonka. He attended the University of Minnesota, where he double-majored in psychology and journalism.
Carr also was an editor at the Twin Cities Reader and the Washington City Paper.
Known for his battle to overcome a drug and drinking addiction, Carr in later years told of snorting cocaine and using other drugs before interviewing such prominent people as then-U.S. Sen. Rudy Boschwitz.
During the 1980s and 1990s, he gave many Minnesotans a ride that most will never forget — leaving behind stories, smiles and bruises as they watched his roller-coaster life as a writer, drug abuser, confidant to the powerful and in-your-face media personality.
His memoir, "The Night of the Gun," drew rave reviews and opened old wounds. It was largely set in the Twin Cities, from its back alleys to the State Capitol, and invokes every big local story of that era, from the gang murder of Christine Kreitz to the fall of banker Deil Gustafson.
Parts of his account are disputed by friends like former Minneapolis police chief Tony Bouza, an unabashed Carr fan who nonetheless said the writer probably imagined some of what happened, a result of drug-induced paranoia.
Check startribune.com for updates later tonight.
These Minnesotans are poised to play prominent roles in state and national politics in the coming years.
