Who Was Heather Armstrong? 'Queen Of Mommy Bloggers' Dies Aged 47

Heather Armstrong rose to fame during the 2000s for blogging about her life as a mother and the challenges she faces, becoming the voice of mothers around the world. She reportedly died by suicide on May 9.

Heather Armstrong suffered from chronic depression as she mentioned in one of her books which was not treated until she was in college. She started writing about her relationships, work, sex and her life in general in her blog titled Dooce in 2001. The name was an inside joke that was based on her inability to type 'dude' quickly while chatting online. A common blunder became the inspiration behind her blog's name.

In 2002, the writer was reportedly fired from her job as a web designer when the blog where she wrote about her co-workers and job was found to be hers. However, the lay-off only worked in her favour as more and more people visited her site after the incident.

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Who Was Heather Armstrong?

Six months after being fired, Armstrong made a comeback with a new topic to discuss, her pregnancy. With her honest choice of words, she discussed her pregnancy struggles, postpartum depression, how her mental health issues were at that time and as she gave birth, she wrote about her kids' tantrums and challenges while raising them.

She was read by a massive number of followers which were about eight million monthly as per the reports in 2009 and generated her a revenue of about 40,000 dollars (32 lakh rupees).

In 2009, she was named as one of the 30 Most Influential Women in Media list of Forbes. She released three books during her career as a blogger including It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita.

Armstrong was known as the 'queen of mommy bloggers' as she was one of the first bloggers to write about motherhood, its struggles and how it impacted her personal life.

In 2012, she separated from her husband and business partner, Jon. Her mental health deteriorated and Armstrong, who already struggled with alcoholism, once again resorted to it for peace. Mother of two daughters Leta and Marlo, Armstrong wanted to change for her daughters and was going through therapy.

Her boyfriend Pete Ashdown reportedly said that she succeeded in being sober for about 18 months but had a relapse recently. On Tuesday, he found her dead in her home in Salt Lake City, Utah.