Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nan Robertson, 83, passed away yesterday after a battle with heart disease. Robertson, who was always frank in her writing about her alcoholism, opened the floodgates when she released her book The Girls in the Balcony, which highlighted the gender inequality at The New York Times.

David Carr didn't write the obituary for Nan, but still made a touching remembrance of his former colleague at his column on the Time's Decoder blog.

Ms. Robertson wrote frankly about her alcoholism, reminding that booze has no respect for class or gender. And when toxic shock put her in a coma and robbed her of the tips of her fingers, she used what remained of her hands to type her way to a Pulitzer Prize in describing her ordeal.

Carr himself has a book about his struggles with alcohol and drug addiction, Night of the Gun.