Carrie Fisher once bought every single piece of Princess Leia merch in a comic book store, and this story captures exactly why we loved her
We, along with the rest of the world, are still in utter shock over the news of Carrie Fisher’s death. She was a legendary actress, writer, and mental health advocate, and we genuinely just can’t believe she’s gone.
As we process, a wealth of statements, condolences, and stories have cropped up about the actress online — and this story about a time Fisher raided the Princess Leia merch in a comic book shop in Boston is genuinely making us smile through our tears. Of all the reactions to this terrible news, for some reason, this one gets perfectly to the heart of why Carrie Fisher was so wonderful.
Erik Scott, a then-employee of Newbury Comics store in Faneuil Hall, relayed the memory on Facebook:
"Right around Halloween, the first year the Newbury Comics Faneuil Hall store was open, a woman walked in right before we closed at 7 on a Sunday who looked remarkably like Carrie Fisher," he wrote.
He went on to write that he quickly realized it was Carrie Fisher, and that, “It became clear that the two people with her were her assistants, and anything they picked up she said to them, “Do you like that? Throw it in the basket.” She walked around the store and bought ANYTHING and EVERYTHING Princess Leia related in the store, in some cases multiple pieces of things.”
“The whole time she walked around she wasn’t anything but the sweetest person ever, constantly commenting on “what a cool store you have here” and apologizing for keeping us open later (to which I replied take all the time you want).”
He then said, “She ended up cleaning us out of all of our Princess Leia Star Wars-related stuff, half of our other Star Wars merchandise (both Halloween related and not) as well as most anything her assistants seemed to pick up and look at. She was smiling and laughing with us and the staff and it truly ended up being one of the great encounters I’ve had with a celebrity but with anybody in my life.”
And finally, he added,
"She was not only funny and pleasant and kind, but carried herself in a way that didn’t speak to herself as an actress or celebrity or person of more importance, but as a person who was comfortable where she was in her life and just wanted to share that happiness and comfort with others."
He also noted that, “I could see […] through her interactions with us at the store and in her show that she was a woman who had been through many battles but had come out the other side happy to be alive and live her life on her own terms.”
We’re so incredibly glad that Scott shared this story with the world. It’s such a simple yet beautiful reminder of the kind of person Fisher was.
R.I.P Carrie. We lost you much too soon.
H/T Vanyaland
