Heather Armstrong, Pioneer Mommy Blogger, Dies at 47

Heather B. Armstrong, known for her trailblazing blog Dooce.com, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 47. The cause of death was suicide, as disclosed by her partner, Pete Ashdown. Heather’s writing broke ground on the internet as she brought forth candid and gritty discussions of motherhood and postpartum depression, in the early days of the internet. She was one of the first women to be dubbed a “mommy blogger” and, later on, an influential mom “influencer.” Heather’s blog featured personal stories, travelogues, and product reviews. Her book “It Sucked, and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much-Needed Margarita” was published in 2009, which earned her a place in Forbes’s list of the top 30 most influential women in media.

Lyz Lenz, author of “Belabored: A Vindication of the Rights of Pregnant Women,” shared how Heather was a role model for her writing career. She started reading Dooce.com in college, shortly after Heather was fired for writing satirical posts about her workplace. Lenz praised Heather’s ability to write with “humor and heart and skin-peeling honesty,” describing her as the “Hunter S. Thompson of birthing and child-rearing — a wild, weird gonzo journalist of domesticity and dog poop.”

Re-reported from the story originally published in https://www.washingtonpost.com/