Heather Armstrong, who gained fame in the 2000s by sharing her experiences of motherhood on her blog Dooce, has passed away at 47 years old. Her boyfriend, Pete Ashdown, found her at their home in Utah on Tuesday evening. Known as the “queen of mommy blogging,” Armstrong often wrote about her personal struggles, relationships, and children. At its peak, Dooce attracted more than eight million monthly visitors, and in 2009, Armstrong was named one of the 30 most influential women in media by Forbes. She started the website in the early 2000s to discuss leaving the Mormon church, work, and sex. The blog’s name came from her difficulty typing the word “dude” quickly in online chats.
In 2002, Armstrong was fired from her job as a web designer in Los Angeles when her blog was discovered, in which she gave co-workers nicknames like “That One Co-worker Who Manages to Say Something Stupid Every Time He Opens His Mouth.” Her dismissal and the reason for it sparked a public debate about privacy and boosted traffic to her blog. After becoming pregnant the following year, Armstrong restarted her blog as a different kind of outlet, documenting her children’s tantrums, mental health issues, struggles with alcoholism, and postpartum depression with honesty.
By 2009, the blog reportedly generated $40,000 a month in revenue from paid advertising. Armstrong also used her popularity to build a significant social media presence and authored three books, including the memoir “It Sucked and then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita.” The book revealed that she suffered from chronic depression throughout her life, which went untreated until she reached college. On Wednesday, a caption on the Dooce Instagram page announcing her death read: “Hold your loved ones close and love everyone else.” Ashdown told the AP that Armstrong had been sober for more than 18 months but had recently relapsed and died by suicide. She is survived by her ex-husband, Jon, her 19-year-old daughter Leta, her 14-year-old son Marlo, and Ashdown and his three children from a previous marriage.
