Edward “Eddie” Carr (S/F)

Eddie Carr, age 41 (1997)

Edward “Eddie” Carr (June 29, 1955 – May 28, 1997) was an American mechanical engineer and the owner/operator of Mobile Field Systems. He is noteworthy for having been a member of the 1997 Gatherer expedition sent to Isla Sorna by Dr. John Hammond, founder and former CEO of International Genetic Technologies; Carr was the field equipment specialist selected by Hammond to provide the team with specially-designed supplies and vehicles. Carr died due to animal attack on May 28, 1997, being the first confirmed casualty of the 1997 incidents.

Name

The given name Edward, often shortened to Eddie, is of Anglo-Saxon origin but its roots come from deep in Indo-European history. Loosely translated, it means “protector of wealth;” it includes Old English root words ead and ƿeard, which mean “wealth/prosperity” and “protector/guardian” respectively. The latter term is found in Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit, and its Sanskrit meaning translates to “at the tip of the dart.” Edward was a popular name in the Anglo-Saxon era of English history, fell out of favor among upper classes for a time, and was then popularized again by King Henry III used the name for his son.

The surname Carr also comes from England, with a variety of origins proposed. It may come from the Old Norse kjarr meaning “swamp,” the Gaelic ciar meaning “dusky,” the Irish nickname gearr meaning “short,” or the Welsh cawr meaning “giant.” A common surname in northern England, it predates the internal combustion engine by quite a long time and therefore has nothing to do with cars. The phonetic similarity is purely a coincidence.

Biography
Early life

Edward Carr was born (probably in the United States of America) on June 29, 1955. His place of birth is so far undisclosed, and similarly little is known about his family and childhood. According to a file kept on Carr by John Hammond, his social security number was 362-54-6583.

Carr graduated from the Michigan Institute of Technology in the spring of 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in engineering. He would have been nineteen at the time, about to turn twenty, meaning that he began college at an early age. At the moment it is not known whether he was involved with an accelerated program or began a four-year degree in 1971 at the age of only sixteen. Either way, his college career was clearly impressive, and he subsequently began a graduate degree.

In the spring of 1978, three years after his undergraduate degree, Eddie Carr once again finished school at the Michigan Institute of Technology. This time he had his master’s degree in mechanical engineering and design. As his career continued, he kept up to date on advancements in technology; for example in 1990, when he was thirty-five years old, he attended the MIT Extension and studied computer design.

Mobile Field Systems

By the 1990s, Carr had become a respected engineer developing and modifying vehicles as well as other technologies for fieldwork. His New York garage was the base of operations for Mobile Field Systems, a company he owned. His place of residence as of the late 1990s was 3765 Harbor Boulevard in San Diego, California, so his mailing address was on the opposite coast from Mobile Field Systems for at least part of his later life. He employed a number of engineers who, under his direction, assembled or altered the machines needed for his clients’ requests. Carr prided himself in his work, particularly his skill with complex technology. This pride was not unfounded: his skill with modifying all-terrain vehicles as well as satellite communication made him highly sought after and praised by all his customers.

Over time, Mobile Field Systems grew and Carr became ever busier. His company probably expanded, employing more and more engineers and mechanics. By 1997, he had more business than he could handle.

Data in Hammond’s computer files gives some personal information on Eddie Carr for this period of time. His phone number was (619)555-6658, and his fax number was (310)555-3648. His height is given as 5’9″ and his weight as 165 pounds. However, the file in Hammond’s office on the InGen IntraNet website describes him as 5’10” and 160 pounds.

1997 incident

He was probably aware of International Genetic Technologies, a company based out of the southern part of the state, but it is unknown if they ever contracted him for field equipment or vehicles. InGen was a secretive company, at the forefront of the bioengineering revolution in the 1980s. However, it ran into financial trouble in the early 1990s due to some kind of corporate disaster at one of their locations. In 1995, a mathematician named Dr. Ian Malcolm claimed on nationwide television to have witnessed this supposed disaster, and stated to incredulous audiences that InGen had brought dinosaurs back from extinction on the island of Isla Nublar. Few seriously believed that such a thing was possible.

Carr would unexpectedly become wrapped up in this bizarre story when he was contacted in early 1997 by the enigmatic businessman Dr. John Hammond, founder and CEO of InGen. Carr was unaware that Hammond had been keeping tabs on him and other persons of interest. At his residence in New York City, Hammond revealed to Carr that Dr. Malcolm had been telling the truth about the events of 1993, and that dinosaurs really had been brought back from the dead. The story ran deeper than this, though: the animals had been bred at a research facility on Isla Sorna, another remote island farther out into the Gulf of Fernandez than Nublar, and were still alive there. InGen had safeguards against dinosaurs surviving in the wild, but somehow these had been circumvented; Hammond had also hired a scientist, Dr. Sarah Harding, to investigate this. Harding left for Isla Sorna to arrive on May 22. Meanwhile, Carr was tasked with preparing field equipment: Hammond intended to send a team of four, called the Gatherers, to document the dinosaurs living in the wild on Isla Sorna. With photographic and video evidence, he could sway public opinion towards preservation and designate the island a wildlife preserve for de-extinct animal species. The third team member was video documentarian Nick Van Owen; for the fourth member, Hammond intended to contract Dr. Malcolm himself. Harding was Malcolm’s romantic partner, which might be enough to persuade Malcolm into another encounter with dinosaurs.

Carr and his employees worked quickly to get the vehicles and equipment ready on such short notice. Four vehicles were being prepared for an arrival toward the end of the month. Three of these were 1997 Mercedes-Benz ML 320s, intended for ground transport, while the third was a 1996 Fleetwood Southwind Storm RV and laboratory-equipped trailer. This vehicle would act as a mobile base of operations for the team. Carr customized the RV and trailer to tailor them to the scientists’ needs, including equipping it with a quiet, lightweight electric motor. The other vehicles were customized as well. In addition to the vehicles, Carr prepared equipment such as an elevated platform called the “High Hide.” This would be fixed to a tall tree, out of the way of animals, and disguised using native inedible plants. The researchers could remain here safely, observing animals without being seen themselves. Keeping Isla Sorna pristine was one of Dr. Harding’s main goals; she wanted the dinosaurs to continue exhibiting their natural behaviors rather than be affected by a human presence. Carr had given her a satellite phone before her departure, but he had not heard from her in a few days at this point. For self-defense, he brought along a Lindstradt air rifle, the darts loaded with the venom of Conus purpurascens, one of the most venomous snails in the world. Should an animal attack, this weapon could be used to painlessly kill the threat.

There was still much work to do on May 27, when Dr. Malcolm unexpectedly arrived to Mobile Field Systems demanding that the expedition leave now. He had learned from Hammond that Dr. Harding was on Isla Sorna by herself, and was not interested in research but instead making a rescue. Carr’s lack of news from Dr. Harding was decidedly not taken as good news by Dr. Malcolm, despite the myriad of reasons Harding might not have been answering her satellite phone. Nick Van Owen joined them at this time as well, and he became acquainted with Malcolm; he would only have had a few days to get to know Carr before this. Also meeting with them was Malcolm’s young daughter Kelly, who was disappointed to learn that her father would be away for a few days.

Despite the incomplete nature of the equipment, Malcolm’s insistence won over, and the Gatherers departed as soon as possible for Costa Rica by cargo plane. Only two of the Mercedes vehicles were taken, the AAV Santana and Fontana; the Montana was left behind since Harding was already on the island and therefore could not drive it. Carr most likely drove the Fleetwood during transit, since it was the most complex vehicle in their caravan. The cargo plane’s hold was pressurized, ensuring that any fragile equipment would remain undamaged by air pressure changes. From Costa Rica, the vehicles were loaded onto the barge Mar del Plata and shipped westward across the Pacific to Isla Sorna’s eastern coast. Carr still doubted what they would really encounter on Isla Sorna. So far, the only proof he had of the existence of dinosaurs was what he had heard from Malcolm and Hammond, plus secondhand information from Harding. Still, Hammond’s paycheck was enough to get him to push forward. Malcolm continuously warned Carr and Van Owen about the dangers of their mission, criticizing any minor detail he could find to prove that they were inadequately prepared.

The Mar del Plata landed on Isla Sorna on May 28, making landfall in a saltwater lagoon connected to the sea. Their captain, Carlos, was unwilling to stay long due to local rumors about disappearances near the Muertes Archipelago; he unloaded them and waited offshore for their satellite phone call.

From the lagoon, the three vehicles moved northward, establishing a base camp near some cliffs in the northeastern part of the island. This was away from the island interior, where Hammond’s satellite thermal scans had detected nesting groups of carnivorous dinosaurs, and in an area where most animals would have no reason to go. The GPS signal from Harding’s satellite phone was to the south, deeper into the woodland; the forest was too dense and the terrain too uneven for the large vehicles, so the three men progressed on foot. Eventually they came upon the source of the signal, but Dr. Harding’s backpack was torn up on the ground, lying beside a stream. The Gatherers called out for Dr. Harding, hoping she would be nearby, but instead had their first encounter with InGen’s animals.

Nothing could have prepared Carr for what he witnessed: a group of dinosaurs, unmistakably Stegosaurus, crossed the small clearing on either side of them. The creatures were enormous, some of them over thirty feet long, with great triangular plates on their backs and three-foot spikes on their tails. To Malcolm, this was all familiar, as he had seen other dinosaurs before, and he warned them that their next encounter might not pass so harmlessly. Soon, they ran into Dr. Harding, who explained that her backpack had been damaged since long before Isla Sorna. She was pleasantly surprised that Dr. Malcolm had been convinced to come to the island, even if he was only doing it to protect her, and updated the group on her research so far. Her studies had focused on the stegosaurs, and she had made interesting discoveries about their parenting behaviors and diet. As she led them along the stream, she took an opportunity to photograph a young stegosaur up close, but provoked a protective response from its family. Carr had to wrestle with Malcolm to keep him from arming himself and rushing in to the rescue, refraining from firing the gun himself since the dinosaurs were only protecting their offspring. Harding managed to avoid the adult dinosaurs and return safely to the others, and they vacated the area to head back to camp.

Along the way back, Carr noticed smoke from a fire, and it was coming from their campsite. The four rushed back to extinguish the flames, finding that there was only a small fire burning; it looked artificially set, like a campfire, and soon they discovered the cause. Kelly had stowed away in the rear trailer, having hidden there during the transit to Costa Rica, and had lit the campfire to prepare food for the others. She was unaware of the nature of their trip, believing that Malcolm had been off on university business like usual. Malcolm immediately tried to contact the Mar del Plata, but failed to operate the radio correctly. He treated the equipment roughly in his frustration, aggravating Carr, who found Malcolm’s lack of skill with technology to be a baffling trait for a mathematician.

While Malcolm attempted to contact the barge, activity was occurring outside. Carr and Van Owen noticed a fleet of helicopters approaching Isla Sorna, having departed from ships anchored offshore. They were carrying a range of heavily customized all-terrain vehicles, and despite the InGen logo on the helicopters, the vehicles were distinctly not Carr’s handiwork. At first, Carr was confused as to why two different InGen teams had been sent to Isla Sorna, and wondered why he did not know about this, but Malcolm and Harding could have quickly confirmed that Hammond was no longer in charge of InGen. As of May 26, the position of CEO had gone to the former Chairman of the Board, Peter Ludlow. Their mission had not been for InGen but for Hammond personally, and clearly Ludlow had his own plans.

The Gatherers watched, transfixed, as Ludlow’s team of hunters was sent forth into a game trail in the north of the island and began rounding up dinosaurs. Any hope of leaving the island mostly untouched was now gone; the dinosaurs’ natural behaviors had been completely interrupted, with a good dozen of the creatures captured and removed from their habitat. By evening, the Gatherers had located the Harvester encampment, where Ludlow was holding the dinosaurs for eventual removal from Isla Sorna. Despite the situation, Carr could not help but be impressed by the quality of the equipment used by the Harvesters, noticing that their team was clearly the better funded. Right now, their only advantage was the element of surprise. Van Owen revealed that Hammond had told him alone that Ludlow might be headed for Isla Sorna, and that Hammond had entrusted Van Owen with sabotaging Ludlow in the even that he tried to capture dinosaurs. Ludlow’s goal was fairly clear now; he planned to use the dinosaurs as exhibits for a park located in San Diego, where InGen already owned property, and save the company from bankruptcy.

Death and legacy

The Gatherers split up. While Malcolm took Kelly back to camp, Van Owen and Dr. Harding planned their infiltration of the InGen Harvester camp to set the dinosaurs free. Carr, meanwhile, set up the High Hide, using a winch attached to the Mercedes Santana to raise it into the trees. This process went well into the night, during which Malcolm would continue his confused attempts to reach the Mar del Plata and the others sabotaged InGen. While Carr was finishing up the High Hide, the Mercedes Fontana driven by Harding and Van Owen passed en route from the Harvester camp to the Gatherer camp. As it drove by, Carr noticed a strange sound coming from it. The noise was not the vehicle; it sounded more like an animal.

Not too long after, Malcolm and Kelly arrived, requesting immediate elevation into the treetops in the High Hide. Carr complied, noticing their panicked demeanor and reluctance to tell him what was going on. Suspended in the highest canopy far above the ground, and hidden from the eyes and noses of animals by the ferns attached to the Hide, they were now safe, and Malcolm tried to calm the frightened Kelly. While he did, a hair-raising bellow was heard in the jungle below, and they witnessed trees pushed aside as something enormous passed through. It was heading directly for the Gatherer campsite, following the bizarre noise Carr had heard. Malcolm immediately turned the Hide’s lights off, his instinct hinting that he had seen a situation like this before. Carr learned what was going on: Van Owen had discovered an injured baby Tyrannosaurus rex at the Harvester camp and taken it back to the mobile lab for treatment. That was the strange sound Carr had heard from the Mercedes, and the bellow from the jungle just now was the sound of an adult.

Malcolm desperately tried to contact the mobile lab, but no one picked up. Instead, he opted to race the angry tyrannosaurs on foot to warn the others. Carr briefly taught him how to use the cable to transit from the High Hide to the forest floor; Malcolm slid down at top speed, much faster than Carr would have advised. Now alone with Kelly, it was Carr’s task to keep a watchful eye on the situation and keep the young girl as safe as possible. They watched as Malcolm reached the Gatherer camp seconds ahead of not just one, but two tyrannosaur adults. The female rammed the other Mercedes off the cliffs, and then both the female and the male surrounded the trailer. After a tense standoff, Malcolm and Harding returned the bandaged juvenile tyrannosaur to its parents. All three dinosaurs returned to the forest, and the Gatherers were able to breathe a sigh of relief. Carr radioed the lab to inform them that the crisis was over.

Sadly, the conflict had only just begun. Before he could notice and warn the Gatherers, both tyrannosaur adults suddenly charged back out from the jungle and rammed the trailers, overturning the rear car and pushing it over the cliff. The accordion connector held strong, but the trailer was suspended hundreds of feet above a rocky coastline. If the passengers were still inside the trailer when the tyrannosaurs hit, they were now in danger of falling to their deaths. Carr left Kelly in the safety of the High Hide, disconnecting the winch on the Santana from the Hide and rushing to the campsite.

He found all three of his companions alive but injured, hanging on for dear life to the trailer interior. Fortunately, the solid construction of the accordion left enough space for them to pass through, rather than being twisted shut, so he was able to throw them a rope which he tied off to a tree stump. Luck was far from on his side as rainfall turned the ground to mud. The RV’s wheels no longer had the traction to keep it in place, and the weight of the trailer began to drag it over. The rain was also making the rope slippery, and at one point the knot came undone and Carr had to retie it. In order to buy the other Gatherers precious time, Carr hooked up the winch from the Santana to the front of the RV, relying on the dryer ground near the forest’s edge to give his wheels more traction than the RV’s could get in the mud. With the Mercedes in reverse, he managed to keep the RV from sliding any farther, but its ten-ton weight was too much to pull all the way back up. It was all he could do to hold the larger vehicle in once place.

Heavy footfalls from behind the Mercedes caught his attention, and the situation went from bad to worse. The commotion had gotten the attention of the tyrannosaur parents, and they returned to the attack site to finish the job. Carr now faced the huge animals face-to-face, and the male tore open the bubble roof of the Santana while the female pinned the vehicle in place. Massive jaws tore into the Mercedes, setting off the driver seat airbag and forcing Carr to dive into the passenger seat. Throughout all this, he still managed to keep his foot pressing the accelerator to the floor. He grabbed the Lindstradt rifle, equipped with its fatal toxin darts, but it had become entangled with the vehicle’s mesh netting during the struggle. Unable to free it, Carr was seized by the male, who grabbed his right leg and hoisted him into the air.

He was tossed, and then the male’s jaws clamped over his head and shoulders. The force of this bite probably severed Carr’s spinal cord, sparing him the sensation of having his lower body torn off by the female. His body split apart, the female carrying off his remains from the hips down while the male swallowed the rest whole. Shock and blood loss would have led to a swift death, though being crushed and suffocated in the male’s maw could have possibly killed him first. Having so much damage done to his body could have possibly, and hopefully, caused Carr to lose consciousness before experiencing such a horrific death.

With no one left to attack, the female tyrannosaur released the Mercedes as the dinosaurs left the attack site; the female did not eat Carr’s lower body and may instead have fed it to her offspring. The Fleetwood RV slid off the cliffs, dragging the Mercedes with it, but Carr’s death was not in vain. The rope he had tied held true, and his three companions were able to clamber up it to safety. Kelly was found by the InGen Harvesters, who reunited her with Dr. Malcolm and the other Gatherers. Although the two groups were fundamentally opposed, they cooperated now. Carr’s death did leave the others one final grim parting gift; he satiated the tyrannosaurs for the night, meaning it would be a few hours before they left their nest to hunt again.

Carr was the only member of the Gatherer team who never left Isla Sorna. All of the others made it out alive, despite the loss of all radio equipment during the night of May 28. While it is not entirely clear what happened to Carr’s lower body (whether it was eaten by the female or the juvenile tyrannosaur), his upper body was probably damaged beyond being identifiable in the male tyrannosaur’s digestive tract. Tyrannosaurs can crush bone but not digest it, so fragments of Carr’s body would have been deposited somewhere in the tyrannosaurs’ territory. It is unlikely any part of his remains were ever recovered. The only reason anyone knew that the tyrannosaurs killed him was Kelly’s eyewitness account from her vantage point in the High Hide.

The end of the incident on Isla Sorna was only the beginning of the new place for de-extinction in the public eye. Although the Harvester expedition had been sabotaged, Ludlow managed to bring the male tyrannosaur to San Diego along with the juvenile. A convoluted series of events led to the adult being accidentally released, and it was up to Malcolm and Harding to rectify the situation. This finally revealed the truth of de-extinction. The dinosaurs were known to the public, and the world was forever changed.

Skills
Mechanical engineering

Attaining his bachelor’s degree in engineering at the age of only nineteen, and then his master’s degree at twenty-two, it is clear that Eddie Carr was highly skilled with machines all his life. He kept his knowledge up to date as the technological world advanced by leaps and bounds in the later twentieth century, such as attending the MIT extension in 1990 to study computer design.

His career began with vehicle and equipment customization. By the late 1990s he was a highly respected engineer, sought after by customers for a variety of purposes; he specialized in developing equipment for use in rough terrain, such as off-road vehicles and field laboratories. This made him sought after by customers such as research organizations. He could modify an existing vehicle to suit virtually any need, and was skilled at learning the ins and outs of a machine with impressive speed. In addition, he could also design, fabricate, and program a functional machine from scratch, allowing him to develop specialized technologies for his customers. Some of his notable inventions were the High Hide, a concealed elevating observation platform, and an in-trailer mobile laboratory; he provided both of these for the 1997 Gatherer expedition to Isla Sorna. He tested most of his machines himself, and in between the work building these devices and testing them, Carr developed his muscles. He was not a fast runner, but he had good stamina, a strong upper body, and dexterous hands.

Carr was considered a leading expert in mobile satellite communications, which was a new and developing technology at the time. The world’s first mobile satellite phone was released to the public in 1989, well after Carr had graduated from college, but he learned and adapted to this technology to become a master. The Global Positioning System was another developing technology that Carr mastered during his career. GPS satellites were first launched in 1978 by the United States Department of Defense after several years of research, and the network first went online in 1993, but Carr had already mastered the use of GPS by early 1997.

His skill with technology was due not only to his education and natural aptitude, but to his approach. Carr himself attributed his success to a sense of respect for the technology he worked with. To him, this was not a matter of control, but rather a mutual relationship; he cared for his machines as one would a romantic partner, troubleshooting problems patiently rather than giving in to frustration. The more complex the machine, the truer this sentiment. Carr had little tolerance for people being rough with his devices and insisted that they would only work if treated with love and care.

Leadership

Eddie Carr was the owner of Mobile Field Systems, but he was not a boss in the traditional sense; he was a leader. His employees were his team and he worked side by side with them. This way, he was not simply in charge, but rather could provide his expertise as a resource. Using this approach, he demonstrably increased the success of Mobile Field Systems by making the company’s engineering team more skilled as a whole.

He also demonstrated leadership qualities during the Gatherer expedition to Isla Sorna, despite this taking him out of his element and placing him as a member of a team he had never worked with before. The mission was short-lived, but Carr assumed the position of equipment specialist with ease and analyzed the unfamiliar terrain to help his companions navigate it without too much trouble. Although he did not always get along with his team members, and was more of an equal than an authority figure, he avoided major conflict and even became friends with the others. At the end of the first day on Isla Sorna, he rushed into action to save the other team members from mortal peril. He did not give up even when his own life was put in danger, and ultimately sacrificed himself to save the others. Carr’s dying act proved his quality not just as a leader, but as a friend.

Driving

As an engineer specializing in vehicle modification, Carr was intimately familiar with vehicles and therefore was an excellent driver. Operating a manual transmission was second nature to him. He had experience with off-road driving and navigated rough terrain with ease, driving both average-sized vehicles and larger trailers. Many of the vehicles he drove had been customized by Mobile Field Systems, so Carr and his employees would have known their quirks better than perhaps any other driver. During the 1997 incident, Carr drove a 1997 Mercedes-Benz ML 320 AAV Santana; his fleet also included an AAV Fontana and an AAV Montana. He was most likely the driver of the 1996 Fleetwood Southwind Storm which the Gatherers used as a mobile lab, since this was the most unwieldy vehicle and had the greatest number of unusual modifications.

During the 1997 incident on Isla Sorna, Carr utilized his Santana to hold the Fleetwood RV in place while its trailer was dangling over the edge of a cliff. The RV was much larger than the Santana, weighing a total of ten tons, and muddy ground was allowing it to slip closer to oblivion every second. Carr’s Santana was not large enough to haul the trailer back up the cliff, but he managed to keep it from falling long enough to save the other Gatherers. It is unlikely anyone of lesser expertise could have accomplished such an impossible feat of vehicular skill.

Firearms skill

Along with computers, vehicles, and other machines, Carr worked with firearms on occasion. One weapon he sometimes used was the Lindstradt air rifle; he chose this for its versatility and quiet operation, which made it preferred in the field. His clients included wildlife researchers, and the Lindstradt was useful for hitting animals with tranquilizer darts. For a more lethal line of defense, Carr would load the rifle’s darts with fast-acting toxins. He selected these not just to kill threatening animals quickly, but also painlessly. Although he showed great confidence while describing the rifle’s ability and the effective speed of the toxin payload, his actual skill with firearms was not demonstrated during the 1997 incident. The Lindstradt had become entangled with the mesh netting of his vehicle during an animal attack, and he was unable to free it in time to protect himself.

Biology knowledge

Carr’s area of expertise was machines and technology, computers and electronics. However, he did have some knowledge of biology, probably due to the nature of his commission work. Field equipment was his trade, and so his clients were usually people who worked out in the wild, such as research biologists. It is likely he learned much about animals due to the customers his business saw. He made use of natural toxins for self-defense, preferring to load the darts of his Lindstradt air rifle with the venom of Conus purpurascens (a highly venomous Pacific cone snail). Carr was quite familiar with how deadly this venom could be, suggesting he had seen it in action before. While he was knowledgeable about gastropod toxicology, he was less well-read about paleontology, knowing rather little about dinosaurs prior to his final mission to Isla Sorna in May 1997.

Views
On technology

Many people become frustrated when technology does not work the way they expect it to. Carr was not one of them. He understood that a machine’s ability is only as good as its operator, and to this end, he built his devices with expert care and treated them with love. This was only more important the greater the machine’s complexity. If a customer had a problem with one of Carr’s devices, the root of the issue was nearly always operator error, and Carr was quick to point this out.

This approach to use of technology was key to Carr’s success as an engineer. He cared for his machines the way one would care for a romantic partner; it was a relationship, not a controlling arrangement. If Carr ran into a problem, he would take a step back and check whether he was doing something wrong, then see whether the machine required maintenance or modification. The machine itself was not at fault, just in need of something. It was Carr’s job to determine whether that something was repair or simply to be treated differently. Also like in a romantic relationship, Carr was always ready to learn and keep his knowledge fresh. By continuing his education periodically, he could update himself on the latest developments in the world of science and technology, making him a better partner to the machines he built at his company garage. This allowed him to master things such as GPS and satellite communication almost as soon as they were invented.

On de-extinction

When he first was told that prehistoric animals had indeed been brought to life on Isla Sorna, Carr did not entirely believe what he was hearing. Up until then, de-extinction had been the subject of conspiracy theory, not fact. He believed it enough to go on the mission to Isla Sorna, where he witnessed firsthand the products of InGen’s research. This blew him away; the dinosaurs were grander than he could have imagined. However, unlike the other members of the team, Carr remained neutral regarding the ethics of de-extinction. Van Owen and Dr. Harding were enthusiastic supporters of this science, while Dr. Malcolm was a firm critic and opposed it. Carr, on the other hand, viewed the dinosaurs as animals.

He made no specific comment on whether or not he believed dinosaurs should have been cloned in the first place, but he did agree with his teammates on the animals’ rights. Now that they were alive, they deserved to be treated with respect; upon witnessing InGen’s careless handling of the captured dinosaurs, Carr showed signs of disgust. He was not among the team members who sabotaged the InGen camp and freed the animals, but while that was going on, he busily prepared the High Hide for its intended research purposes. Clearly he had no intention of letting Ludlow’s Harvesters open their planned park on the mainland before the public had a chance to see the dinosaurs living in the wild.

Relationships
Mobile Field Systems

Although it is not known whether he founded the company or rose through the ranks, Eddie Carr was in charge of Mobile Field Systems as of 1997 and was clearly a skilled leader. His expertise with machinery and computers made him an efficient engineer, but he was also able to teach his skills to other employees, which increased the overall quality of the company’s work and gave his employees valuable knowledge to benefit their own careers. Carr could be seen working alongside his engineering team in the workshop rather than simply overseeing operations; his motive as owner of the company was not about being in power and turning a profit, but about delivering top-tier products and advancing the skills of his team.

It was because of this results-driven approach that Carr led Mobile Field Systems to become a perpetually in-demand service for clients in search of field equipment. As of 1997, the company had a neverending stream of customers coming in, keeping them busy at all times. While this was stressful and hectic, it also meant that all the employees were constantly exercising their skills and had good income. Some of their customers were fairly wealthy, such as John Hammond; he was the last customer of Mobile Field Systems before Carr’s death, and in fact Carr died while working the job Hammond hired him for. It is unknown who at Mobile Field Systems succeeded Carr as the person in charge.

Various customers

From the time he started working as an engineer until his death in 1997, Eddie Carr consistently impressed his customers and word of his skill spread throughout the industry. He began specializing in vehicle modifications and equipment manufacturing for fieldwork, so many of his clients were probably involved with research, surveying, or site monitoring in rural and undeveloped areas. As new technology became available, Carr became an expert in the use of satellite-based communications and GPS.

Such skill was both a blessing and a curse, as indicated by the file kept on him by Hammond which describes Carr as having more business than he could handle. His expertise was in high demand and this made him a very popular choice. While he had all the customers he could ever want, Carr was always under stress to keep up with demand.

Dr. John Parker Alfred Hammond

Eddie Carr’s final client was the eccentric and reclusive entrepreneur John Hammond, the CEO of International Genetic Technologies. He had researched Carr and found his skills as an engineer to be top-notch, so he hired him for a secretive mission to the island of Isla Sorna where Carr would work as field equipment specialist. Several vehicles and pieces of custom-made equipment were also commissioned by Hammond. Along with other members of the team, Carr was told about how InGen had used Isla Sorna as a testing ground for de-extinction, and that now the results were roaming the island freely. The mission was to document them in the wild and make a case for establishing Isla Sorna as the world’s first de-extinct animal preserve.

Hammond neglected to inform Carr that InGen was not on his side. Hammond was no longer CEO, and the money he paid Carr was not company profit but rather from Hammond’s rapidly-dwindling personal account: Hammond was dying and so had no need for money any longer. The only goal Hammond had was to preserve the dinosaurs, which InGen and its rivals were seeking to exploit. Carr did not learn about this until after he had already landed on the island and the mission was underway. His death during the incident on Isla Sorna was a tragedy, but ultimately because Carr chose to put himself in peril rather than abandon the other team members, it was not blamed on Hammond.

Gatherer team

For the 1997 mission to Isla Sorna, Carr was accompanied by three other team members, two of whom he had met prior to the time of departure. Together they formed the Gatherers. The first was Dr. Sarah Harding, a biologist who specialized in the behavior of predatory animals; she had learned about Hammond’s mission after being contacted and approached him about taking the position of researcher. The second team member was Nick Van Owen, a video documentarian and environmental activist who would be collecting footage of the dinosaurs to sway public opinion. Carr did not meet the third team member until the day they left by cargo plane for Costa Rica: this was the mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm, a celebrity scientist who had witnessed dinosaurs before thanks to Hammond. Two years prior, Malcolm had gone on live television and acted as a whistleblower, but was dismissed as a crackpot and a fraud by the public. Carr became one of a select few people to know that Malcolm had not made it up.

Carr’s personality was very different from that of the impulsive Dr. Harding and the hot-tempered and promiscuous Van Owen, but it was surprisingly the cynical Dr. Malcolm who clashed with him. Malcolm arrived to Carr’s garage ahead of schedule demanding to leave immediately, interrupting the flow of work at Mobile Field Systems and criticizing Carr’s equipment as being insufficient for what they were going to deal with. Carr was still not fully convinced that Hammond’s stories of de-extinction were totally true, which irritated Malcolm. They also clashed in terms of technology. Malcolm was not technologically skilled, becoming frustrated when he could not work a device. At one point he attempted to use a satellite phone without turning it on. Malcolm would use these devices roughly when he became frustrated, and this was a great annoyance to Carr, who insisted that the devices be used lovingly with patience and respect.

To make matters worse, Dr. Malcolm had brought along an unwanted guest: his twelve-year-old daughter Kelly Curtis had stowed away in the trailer after having an argument with her father back at the garage. Kelly was now a liability to the mission and Malcolm was attempting to contact the mainland to bring her back. Despite this inconvenience, Carr and the other team members were amused by the similar personalities of Dr. Malcolm and his young daughter.

Aside from Malcolm, Carr got along with his teammates well, becoming as dedicated to the mission as they were when he encountered his first dinosaurs. He was surprised to learn from them that Hammond was no longer InGen’s CEO, and that the company had sent a team of their own to the island; Carr witnessed them rounding up dinosaurs with little regard for the animals’ comfort. Discovering that InGen was planning on opening a zoo-like attraction for the creatures, Carr concurred with the other members of the Gatherer team that InGen should be stopped. For the first time, all five of the team members were in agreement on something. Carr did not participate in the sabotage that Dr. Harding and Van Owen went to carry out, but he did start preparing their High Hide observation platform for use, intending to carry out the research and documentation mission as planned. This would encourage the public to support the dinosaurs’ right to live in the wild, rather than in a zoo or theme park.

The High Hide got its first and only use that very night; after the sabotage, Van Owen had rescued a young tyrannosaur from InGen’s encampment in order to mend its broken leg. Malcolm took Kelly from the Gatherer campsite to the High Hide for safety, and not a moment too soon; the tyrannosaur’s parents arrived in search of their offspring. Malcolm had to leave the High Hide to warn his girlfriend and Van Owen when they did not pick up the trailer’s phone. Carr was left with the frightened Kelly, but could not stay long: he saw from a distance as the tyrannosaurs, having gotten their son back, destroyed the trailers by pushing them over the seaside cliffs. Kelly’s father was still inside, as were the other team members. Carr left the safety of the High Hide to save them.

All three of his friends inside the trailer had miraculously survived, but were left dangling over the rocky coast of the bay below while the RV was slowly dragged over the edge by the weight of the dangling trailer. Rain had made the ground muddy, so it would not rest in place. Carr’s solid construction had kept the accordion connecting the two open enough for them to pass through, so he threw them a rope to climb up. Using his car’s winch, he fought gravity to keep the trailer suspended while his friends escaped. Unfortunately, the commotion drew the tyrannosaurs back to camp, and they began to tear apart Carr’s vehicle. He attempted to get his gun, stay out of reach, and keep his foot on the accelerator all at the same time. Although his efforts were able to save his friends’ lives, the tyrannosaurs extracted and killed him. He satiated their hunger for a short time, giving the survivors a head start at escaping Isla Sorna before the titanic predators emerged to hunt once again.

InGen personnel

International Genetic Technologies, Inc. was based out of southern California; there is no evidence of him being commissioned by InGen for fieldwork. He had probably heard of them, and certainly heard the unusual conspiracy theories circulated around during the mid-1990s by Dr. Ian Malcolm, but could never have predicted that he would be drawn into this strange tale himself.

He was contacted by John Hammond, the former CEO of InGen, to be the equipment specialist for a team sent to Isla Sorna studying the now-feral dinosaurs InGen had created there. Carr was unaware that Hammond had been removed from his position as CEO until the arrival of the actual InGen team to the island. This team was led by InGen’s new CEO Peter Ludlow and consisted of a large number of Harvester personnel. The hunters were led by Roland Tembo, with Tembo’s friend Ajay Sidhu acting as tracker. Their equipment specialist, the equivalent to Carr, was a man named Dieter Stark; he was not an agreeable man, even more sardonic than Carr could be, and had no leader-like qualities at all. Instead of the satisfaction of a job well done, Stark was chiefly motivated by the chance to feel powerful by abusing animals weaker than himself. The InGen team’s scientist was Dr. Robert Burke, a paleontologist.

Out of all the Gatherer team members, only Nick Van Owen had known about the InGen team, and he led Dr. Harding to sabotage their efforts. Meanwhile, Carr set up the High Hide observation platform, intending to continue their research mission despite InGen’s arrival. Getting public support could still defeat InGen and keep the dinosaurs wild. However, Carr would never encounter InGen members again, as he died during the mission that night; he was killed by tyrannosaurs, who were drawn into the incident after Ludlow injured their offspring. Carr died while saving his teammates, and while they mourned him, InGen was less sympathetic. The lead hunter Roland Tembo did not empathize with the Gatherers regarding Carr’s death, but appreciated Carr’s sacrifice in his own dispassionate way; he pointed out that after eating Carr, the tyrannosaurs would be a while before they were hungry again.

De-extinct animals

Like most people, Eddie Carr first heard about de-extinction through Dr. Ian Malcolm’s disastrous television interview in which the famed mathematician claimed that InGen had cloned dinosaurs on a remote Pacific island. Two years later, he was contacted by InGen’s former CEO John Hammond for a mission related to those rumors: Malcolm’s tale was entirely true, and Hammond was now seeking to establish the dinosaurs’ island as a preserve. Carr was still skeptical that there actually were dinosaurs, but went on the mission anyway. His job was to provide equipment to the team that would help them research and document the dinosaurs safely. Since he had never encountered such creatures before, Carr more than likely had to do a lot of guesswork to decide on his equipment’s specifications.

On Isla Sorna, he witnessed his first dinosaurs, and no museum exhibits or illustrated books could have prepared him for the reality. The first dinosaurs he saw were a family group of Stegosaurus, including a juvenile. Carr was impressed by the sheer size and strength of the creatures. Within minutes, though, the awe and wonder of the encounter turned to peril; the juvenile was alarmed by Dr. Harding’s camera making noise and the adults rushed to its defense. Harding was attacked, and Carr had to wrestle Dr. Malcolm away from intervening; the toxin-loaded dart rifle was not brought into play only because Carr knew the dinosaurs were protecting their baby. After Harding escaped the defensive parents, the Gatherer team vacated the area.

While the mission was supposed to research various dinosaurs non-intrusively around Isla Sorna’s outer forests, the arrival of the InGen team interrupted their plans. Carr witnessed InGen rounding up several more dinosaur species. Their targets included Stegosaurus, the horned Triceratops, the small scavenger Compsognathus, the speedy omnivorous Gallimimus, the crested hadrosaur Parasaurolophus, and the hard-headed Pachycephalosaurus. Among the dinosaurs of the northeastern forests, the only one too large for them to target was the gigantic Mamenchisaurus. Carr witnessed some of the dinosaurs being mistreated by InGen, which motivated him even more to complete his team’s mission and gain protection for these animals.

As Carr was setting up the High Hide for observation and safety, Dr. Harding and Nick Van Owen sabotaged InGen’s camp by freeing dinosaurs and cutting vehicle fuel lines. They also brought a wounded baby Tyrannosaurus rex into the Gatherer camp, which Carr was unaware of; he only learned about this from Dr. Malcolm, who brought Kelly to the High Hide to keep her safe. Before long, the young tyrannosaur’s mother and father tracked it down and attacked the camp, knocking the trailer containing Carr’s mobile lab over the cliffs. It was left dangling by the accordion connector, suspended from the RV’s front module. Carr attempted to save his companions, but while doing so, he drew the attention of the tyrannosaur parents again. They attacked, and the female held his vehicle in place while the male dragged Carr out by his leg. Between the two predators, his body was torn in half. Fortunately, he had managed to secure a rope that allowed his teammates to climb to safety, but he was killed and eaten by the tyrannosaur family.

Carr’s sacrifice saved the lives of his companions, who were then able to alter the dinosaurs’ fate. They prevented a trophy killing of the female tyrannosaur, and later saved the male from being killed when InGen brought it to San Diego. The juvenile, which would have been put on display in Jurassic Park, was reunited with its father and brought home. With the public now aware of Isla Sorna and its de-extinct inhabitants, legal protection was established for the dinosaurs. While political forces have clashed regarding de-extinct animal rights in the ensuing decades, the Gatherer team did succeed in its original mission. Their success forms the starting block for arguments in favor of de-extinct animal rights.

Portrayal

Eddie Carr is portrayed by Richard Schiff. He is loosely based on the character of the same name in Michael Crichton‘s novel, with some key aspects of his role altered. One example is the manner in which he dies; in the film, he is killed by the tyrannosaurs while trying to pull the trailers back up the cliffs, while in the novel he is killed in the High Hide when it comes under assault by the Velociraptor pride. In the novel, it is also Carr who suggests bringing the young tyrannosaur back to the trailers to mend its leg, but then he takes the other team members to the High Hide for safety. It is here that he meets his end while defending his friends from the raptors. For the most part, his personality is similar, though in the novel he is meeker while in the film he is sarcastic.

He also takes some aspects of Jack Thorne from the novel, such as being the owner of Mobile Field Systems (in the novel, Eddie Carr is Thorne’s assistant, and the company is called Thorne Mobile Field Systems).

Disambiguation Links

Eddie Carr (C/N)

Eddie Carr (JN)

Eddie Carr (CB-Topps)