Joely Fisher Pens Emotional Tribute to Half-Sister Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher isn’t the only talented writer in her family.

Younger half-sister Joely Fisher — daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and daughter Connie Stevens — penned a moving tribute to the deceased 60-year-old Star Wars actress. She revealed details about her childhood and growing up near half-siblings Carrie and Todd in Malibu, California, in a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter.

“We spent the better part of our childhoods as neighbors, our two families right next door,” Joely wrote. “I adored Mama Debbie — she was such a character. And I got another sister and a brother in the deal, right there on the beach!”

“During our transcontinental chat before Carrie’s fateful flight from London to L.A., we promised we’d spend Christmas together. It’s a promise we kept, although not in a way either of us had anticipated. Throughout the holiday, I sat by her side in a hospital room filled with a cacophony of sounds made by the machine keeping her barely alive. Debbie, of course, was there as well,” Joely continued.

“She told me that she’d been praying for my time. More time for Carrie, for herself and for Connie. I knew if those prayers weren’t answered, Debbie might very well join her daughter,” Joely revealed.

In the piece, Joely also wrote about niece Billie Lourd, who broke her silence on her mother’s tragic death yesterday.

“She would have wanted us to celebrate her life, her words and for Billie to be whole. In time she will be. She is smart and soulful and magic. My sister Tricia Leigh and I vow to be whatever our niece Billie needs us to be,” Joely promised.

“You all lost Princess Leia and Carrie Fisher; I lost my hero, my mentor, my mirror. My brother Todd has lost his sister and his mother, whom he has said will lay to rest together. There is no universe where these ladies are not due their appropriate pedestals, and both will be memorialized in separate ceremonies in coming weeks,” she added.

Joely ended her tribute by hinting at the possibility of continuing to pick up Carrie’s writing pen. “You can’t ‘right this s—, but you can ‘write’ it. And I do have a hell of a book in me.”

This story first appeared at Womanista.