Several of his published books focus on popular music and musicians, including Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson (2006).
[2] In 1993, Carlin co-authored the autobiography[3] of mountaineer Stacy Allison, the first American woman to summit Mount Everest.
In 1996, he moved to New York City to become a senior writer at People magazine, where he reported and wrote profiles about the Beach Boys member Brian Wilson, Monty Python co-founder John Cleese and Ernest Hemingway.
Hired by The Oregonian newspaper to serve as its television columnist, Carlin moved back to Portland in late 2000.
[4] Carlin was also an early and influential advocate for the TV series Arrested Development, Lost, The Shield and Mad Men.