In Memory

Linda Reagan

Linda Reagan

I will just tell you what I know about Linda.
 
Linda, her sister Janet (Lee '66), my sister Cathy (Lee '66) and I all hung out together during high school, listening to the music of the day, shopping and going to movies, etc.  After graduation, we went our separate ways.
 
Linda graduated from University of Texas at Austin with a BA degree.
 
In 1970, Linda, myself, and my sister, got together again and headed out on an "adventure" to make a go of it in Los Angeles.  I had worked for a costume firm in London (blame it all on my mother and Charlie Walker, the terrific drama sponsor at Lee) and I was going to try to land a job with that same firm in Los Angeles.  That didn't work out, but we all managed to find work. Sharing an apartment, I got to know Linda much more.  She was passionate about art history.  She spent many evenings regaling us with lessons on the masters and their style nuances.  She relished the many trips we took to as many museums and art galleries we could get to in Southern California.  She was also a very talented artist and designer in her own right.  When I was involved with a London designer, she sent me a portfolio of some of the best sketches and classiest clothing designs that should have been produced at the time, during one of the quirkiest eras in our history. 
 
Everything fell apart for us in February of 1971, the morning of the Sylmar 7.1 earthquake.  We lived in Venice Beach.  The experience of being thrown to the ground and watching the boulevard in front of our complex heave up and down as the seismic wave hit was too much for my sister and I.  I got a job offer from my former boss in San Antonio by phone during the earthquake and decided to take it on the spot.
 
Three weeks later we were packed and ready to hit the road.  Linda decided to stay.  We lost touch after that.  From what we managed to learn from her sister later on, she continued to work in the insurance industry and later for a law firm.  She never married.  She died around 2009 of a heart attack.  She was survived by her younger sister and her kids and her mother who had moved to Arkansas.
 
There was never an obituary for her.  I don't know much about how she fared over the years.  She was extremely smart but very shy and became a confirmed loner.  We shared many pleasant times together and I will always remember that.  I did manage to return her original sketches through her sister before she died and I was told she was happy to receive them.  
 
 
Jean Carter



 
  Post Comment

09/27/15 09:21 PM #1    

Barbara Fletcher (O'Connor)

Thank you for the lovely rememberance.   I remember Linda as a shy, kind  girl.  I hope her life was happy.


  Post Comment