April 30, 2012
Growing up in a traditional, intellectual ethnic Jewish household in Queens, New York, Carol Miller was supposed to be a doctor or, at the very least, a lawyer. But hearing a doo-wop trio in the alley under her window changed the direction of her life: she fell in love with popular music. During the late 60s, as rock exploded and rebellion hit American colleges, including the University of Pennsylvania where she was a biology student, Carol joined the underground airwaves of progressive rock.
Carol pursued radio with the dogged intensity and ambition that made her an exceptional student. But mysterious symptoms that she developed as a young woman seemed to grow more intense and painful by the year. She and her family were haunted by an unnamed and never discussed illness that claimed most of her relatives long before old age. Carol knew that she might be as cursed as her elders and it drove her to make the most of what she always feared might be a short life. She landed increasingly high profile radio jobs in Philadelphia and New York, eventually rising to the top to work alongside Scott Muni, Cousin Brucie, and other legendary personalities she admired growing up. As one of the nation’s top DJs, Carol introduced the music of Bruce Springsteen to New York radio, was on a first name basis with Sir Paul McCartney, shared vitamins with Lily Tomlin, and dated Steven Tyler. She changed the business itself, creating an on-air style that has been imitated and adapted by stations nationwide.
In Up All Night, Carol spins the entertaining, moving, and revealing story of her life and times. A star-studded roster of rock and roll royalty, Carol’s memoir is simultaneously a collection of snapshots of the ever-changing panorama of pop culture: from the arrival of television to JFK and The Beatles, the March on Washington, the death of John Lennon, 9/11 and beyond. Carol has either been there, next door, or on the air. But hers is also a tale of guilt, disappointment, and alienation, of a brilliant, charismatic pioneer who believed she’d failed her Jewish parents, of a trendsetter who felt outside the mainstream culture she helped shape. And it is the story of the biggest challenge she has faced, her ongoing battle to beat the breast and uterine cancer that ultimately came to claim her at as it had all the women in her family before her.
Told in her inimitable voice, Up All Night is a uniquely American story that will resonate with readers and make them laugh, break their hearts, and leave them wanting more.
Carol pursued radio with the dogged intensity and ambition that made her an exceptional student. But mysterious symptoms that she developed as a young woman seemed to grow more intense and painful by the year. She and her family were haunted by an unnamed and never discussed illness that claimed most of her relatives long before old age. Carol knew that she might be as cursed as her elders and it drove her to make the most of what she always feared might be a short life. She landed increasingly high profile radio jobs in Philadelphia and New York, eventually rising to the top to work alongside Scott Muni, Cousin Brucie, and other legendary personalities she admired growing up. As one of the nation’s top DJs, Carol introduced the music of Bruce Springsteen to New York radio, was on a first name basis with Sir Paul McCartney, shared vitamins with Lily Tomlin, and dated Steven Tyler. She changed the business itself, creating an on-air style that has been imitated and adapted by stations nationwide.
In Up All Night, Carol spins the entertaining, moving, and revealing story of her life and times. A star-studded roster of rock and roll royalty, Carol’s memoir is simultaneously a collection of snapshots of the ever-changing panorama of pop culture: from the arrival of television to JFK and The Beatles, the March on Washington, the death of John Lennon, 9/11 and beyond. Carol has either been there, next door, or on the air. But hers is also a tale of guilt, disappointment, and alienation, of a brilliant, charismatic pioneer who believed she’d failed her Jewish parents, of a trendsetter who felt outside the mainstream culture she helped shape. And it is the story of the biggest challenge she has faced, her ongoing battle to beat the breast and uterine cancer that ultimately came to claim her at as it had all the women in her family before her.
Told in her inimitable voice, Up All Night is a uniquely American story that will resonate with readers and make them laugh, break their hearts, and leave them wanting more.
