Carol Lynn Wright Pearson (born December 1, 1939) is an American poet, author, screenwriter, and playwright. She frequently addresses the topics of LGBT acceptance and the role of Latter-day Saint women.
A fourth-generation Latter-day Saint, Pearson was born in Salt Lake City to Lelland Rider Wright and Emeline Sirrine Wright. They would settle in Provo, where Pearson attended Brigham Young High School.[1] Her mother died of breast cancer when Carol Lynn was fifteen. Carol Lynn studied music and theater at Brigham Young University (BYU), where she won the award for Best Actress two years in a row.
Pearson married actor, musician, and songwriter Gerald Neils Pearson (1942–1984), whom she had met in a college production of The Skin of Our Teeth, on September 9, 1966 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The two were devout Latter-day Saints who both descended from several generations of church members. They were married for 12 years and had four children together, settling in Provo, Utah.
Gerald had told Pearson while they were engaged that he had participated in sexual relationships with men, but had left that phase of his life behind. Church authorities also assured the couple that marriage would turn Gerald into a heterosexual.[2] However, he eventually confronted his homosexuality and after a move to California prompted by his desire to explore this side of himself, they separated and were divorced in 1978. He returned to live with her and their children after being diagnosed with AIDS in 1984, and she cared for him until his death. Her book Goodbye, I Love You is about their life together.
Since then, Pearson has become an unofficial spokesperson for acceptance of gay people by their Latter-day Saint families, as well as a stronger leadership role for women in the broader church community. Many of her works address these issues, and she speaks on these and related subjects around the country. She notes, "I love the Mormon community ... and I have a unique opportunity to build bridges."
Pearson's daughter Emily (b. 1968) is an actress[3] and writer who is the author of Dancing With Crazy (2011), a memoir of her life and family. Pearson's elder son John (b. 1969) is a professional caricaturist[4] and one of the original animators of The Simpsons; younger son Aaron Pearson (b. 1971) is a rock musician.[5] Her youngest child, Katharine Sirrine "Katy" Pearson Adams (1975–1999), died of a brain tumor at the age of 23. Pearson has four grandchildren. Pearson's former son-in-law, Steven Fales (b. 1970) is an internationally acclaimed solo performance artist most noted for his Mormon Boy Trilogy (2018)[6] that tells his coming-out story. He is the father of two of Pearson's four grandchildren.[7]
Pearson is best known for her memoir Goodbye, I Love You and the LDS musical My Turn On Earth. Her play Facing East, about a Latter-day Saint family dealing with the suicide of a gay son, opened Off Broadway on May 29, 2007.[8] She also wrote One On The Seesaw, a lighthearted book about raising a family as a single parent.
Early in her career she published poetry and essays in various venues. Her plays Pegora the Witch and Think Your Way to a Million won statewide contests in Utah; a third, Martyr-in-Waiting, was published by the LDS Church's Mutual Improvement Association. She was employed at this time by BYU's motion-picture department.[9] Her first book was the poetry collection, Beginnings, published in 1969. Her other works include:
