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I seem to remember being miffed and jealous when I was around 12 or 13 because I'd heard that a popular UK DJ/personality Jimmy Saville had proposed to Karen Carpenter. I think he publicly announced that she had turned him down . Was there any truth to this??? In fact does anyone know of other marriage proposals that never succeeded??? What is the story?

Never heard of that one Mikey. But I do remember in the Ray Coleman book that Tom Bahler asked Karen to marry him and she said no because he had a child from a previous marriage. But that's the only one I know of.

There was this guy in the UK whom Karen got involved with but he was threatened by A&M to dump her. Seems like he was very much in love with her. Maybe he was called something like Softy or Softly? Remember reading it in the Coleman book. Maybe this could have been the guy you are referring to Mikey?
Don`t know if he proposed but they at least dated and it seemed serious at the time.

It was the A&M marketing exec in London. This was mentioned on the BBC radio broadcast. A&M, Richard, and mom did not want Karen preoccupied with nonsense like romance and marriage. She needed to make records. I bet in hindsight, they wished things had gone differently. Do you think Richard gets on the internet and reads what we write?

thanks for elaborating Aaron, I had forgotten who it was.
Sad how they plotted against her and went behind her back. And the poor girl never knew what happened. God, how terrible!!

I think Richard checks out various sites from time to time, he must be curious aswell. I know I would be.

You can really tell that "Softly" (I think that is what he is called...nickname maybe?... i cant find my Coleman book lol) still cares alot for Karen and misses that he could have been the one. After all these years... you can tell in his interviews that he still loves her.

Makes you wonder what her life would have been if it took the turn of marrying him.

Pamela

i agree, pamela. i think that karen would have been "ok" if she was allowed to continue her relationship with softly. i hate that everything karen indulged herself in, was ripped from under her......................

smw, on May 19 2004, 12:20 AM, said:

I agree with everyone here.

I makes me so sad, frustrated and angry when I think of the aching Karen must have suffered whilst trying to please her family, but at the same time wanting to marry and have kids. Without doubt, this added to the deteriation of her health.

Also, let's not forget, from a selfish point of view, without Karens children the genes behind that beautiful voice are lost to the world forever.

Can anyone remember when Karen dated Softly? Can it have been 74/75? If so it would have been so good for her to let the relationship develop, maybe even helped her to get better as this was the yearly years of her illness.

He really was in love with her I think, and he also seems like a good guy. Can`t believe that even the gift Karen sent to his wedding was held back by A&M etc. That is so cruel and conspiratory. Even when they both had moved on and he was getting married, A&M were scared to death that he and Karen would hook up again. It makes me so sad to think about poor Karen wondering what happened and why he left her so suddenly. Probably didn`t make her problems and her anorexia easier.

Makes me so sad and angry when I read how badly she was treated by so many people around her. It is shameful!!!

Blame the Almighty dollar Christian. Money is the name of the game. If Karen would have gotten married, maybe "they" feared she would have wanted to settle down and raise a family. Record company can't make money that way - they controlled her life so that the money would keep rolling in.