Post by adayinthelife on Apr 16, 2005 15:03:36 GMT -5
On April 17 it will be the 7th anniversary of the death of Linda McCartney. She was only 56 when she died.
(www.beatlesnumber9.com)
When Linda McCartney married Paul, she also married his fame and the resentment of thousands of weepy, love sick girls. Linda was again in the unwanted spotlight during the Wings years, and this time the media had even more fodder for the fire—she was an amateur singer and musician, and perhaps hardly even that. It’s only in recent years that she has been acknowledged for being an excellent photographer, artist, animal rights activist, businesswoman and cook, all in her own right.
Linda Eastman was born on September 24, 1941 to an upper middle class family, and raised in Scarsdale, New York. Oddly enough, Yoko Ono also lived in Scarsdale, sometime after she had first moved to New York, but only for a short time.
Linda’s father was an entertainment lawyer. Linda seemed to have a happy enough childhood; high school classmates remember her as a spirited, smiley girl. Her mother died in a plane crash when she was nineteen, and she retreated to Vermont, then Arizona for a college education.
At the University of Arizona she majored in art history and picked up a predilection for photography. While in Arizona she also picked up a husband, the father of her daughter Heather. Linda’s first rushed marriage is often described as something Linda entered into under the influence of grief, after her mother died.
After college she moved back to New York, and got a job as a receptionist at Town and Country magazine. Linda’s big photography break was a chance opportunity to photograph the Rolling Stones on a yacht. She grabbed her camera, snapped her pictures and suddenly her pictures were in high demand.
Linda was naturally a good photographer. She watched people with eager eyes, and took the photo when it was the right moment. Her pictures created a scene or established a character, and were often considered beautiful, sometimes moody and gritty.
Linda’s photography skills made her a member of the music scene. She captured The Doors, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, and eventually the Beatles. She became a Rolling Stone magazine photographer.
Linda is said to have had many amorous relationships with the musicians she photographed. Most notorious, was her relationship with Jimi Hendrix. In the first interview Paul gave after Linda had passed away, he was asked about his past rendezvous in relation to Linda’s rendezvous. Paul thought that Linda and him had about the same experience, though is doubtful that Linda could have ever caught up to Paul.
She met Paul for the first time in England at a music club called The Bag O’ Nails. Paul noticed her almost immediately. That same year she took the famous Sergeant Pepper pictures, the ones with Paul and John shaking hands in an overly exaggerated way. The first picture of Paul and Linda together was snapped during this photo shoot.
A "dirty weekend," as Linda referred to it, was next, and also included discussions of books, philosophies, passions. It wasn’t long before Paul was completely smitten. He asked Linda and Heather to live with him in London, and Linda accepted. Sometime during their courtship Linda told a friend that she wasn’t quite sure about Paul, she thought she didn’t really have a chance at a serious relationship with such a playboy and celebrity. But Paul always knew Linda was special—she always returned to his thoughts.
In 1969, Paul and Linda married and George and Patti Boyd were arrested for possession of marijuana the same day. John and Yoko married within two weeks of Paul and Linda.
During the infamous Beatles money disputes, Paul wanted Linda’s father to handle their money. The other three Beatles were decidedly against involving family members, and any other people close to them. It is also rumored that the rest of the Beatles didn’t necessarily trust Linda and her intentions. Same went for Yoko when she first appeared on the scene (and oftentimes after too).
When Paul and Linda married, Linda was about four or five months pregnant with their first daughter Mary. Mary was born around the time of the Beatles breakup, and Paul has said that was the first time he ever saw magic.
When Paul’s first solo album came out, he decided that he would be the first to announce the breakup. Almost half of this album is about, or dedicated to, Linda ("La La La, La La La, the Lovely Linda).
Distraught and stricken over the breakup, Paul hid away with Linda at his remote farm in Scotland for a while. Their second daughter Stella was born within two years of Mary, and along with her birth, and a hard labor for Linda, came Wings. Paul wanted to be with Linda and the family, and Linda wanted to be with Paul and the family, so Linda joined the band. Her voice and musical talents were derided, but she did eventually improve on the piano. Her voice was inconsistent, but sweet, and sometimes even nearly beautiful.
Amidst all this, Linda and Paul decided to become vegetarians. One day, they looked out the window at the lambs they were raising, and the lamb on their plates, and decided to give up meat.
Linda and Paul became big animal rights activists. Linda also enjoyed cooking, and she wanted to share her food with others, so she wrote a cook book and started a frozen food line. She made millions, and Paul often joked that her frozen food line was taking in more money than the Beatles ever did.
Wings had several different members, and lasted until about 1980, when Paul was busted for marijuana in Japan. His ten day stay in the prison would be the longest that Paul and Linda had ever been, and ever was, separated. Paul is often quoted as saying that in their 29 year marriage, they were only separated one night—excluding the prison incident. Of course, this was not the only time that Linda and Paul had been caught in possession of marijuana.
In the early ‘70s the McCartney’s earned an Academy Award nomination for the theme of the James Bond Film, "Live and Let Die." In the late ‘70s they had their last child, a boy named James.
From there, Linda continued to have hearty meals and lots of family time. And she always took pictures. Over the years she acquired many pictures, which eventually turned into a retrospective ‘60s photo book.
In December of 1995, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer. In 1996 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from PETA for her animal-rights work.
By 1997, she was in remission, but it wasn’t long before the cancer came back, and headed towards her liver. She died on April 19, 1998 in her Arizona home, with her family by her side.
Paul pledged to carry on with his late wife’s animal rights and vegetarian campaigns. He has stuck to his word, though he is now a bit more vocal about land mines because this is his second’s wife passion.
Today people remember Linda as a loving person, photographer, mother and wife. Sometimes, they even drop and ignore her last name.
(www.beatlesnumber9.com)
When Linda McCartney married Paul, she also married his fame and the resentment of thousands of weepy, love sick girls. Linda was again in the unwanted spotlight during the Wings years, and this time the media had even more fodder for the fire—she was an amateur singer and musician, and perhaps hardly even that. It’s only in recent years that she has been acknowledged for being an excellent photographer, artist, animal rights activist, businesswoman and cook, all in her own right.
Linda Eastman was born on September 24, 1941 to an upper middle class family, and raised in Scarsdale, New York. Oddly enough, Yoko Ono also lived in Scarsdale, sometime after she had first moved to New York, but only for a short time.
Linda’s father was an entertainment lawyer. Linda seemed to have a happy enough childhood; high school classmates remember her as a spirited, smiley girl. Her mother died in a plane crash when she was nineteen, and she retreated to Vermont, then Arizona for a college education.
At the University of Arizona she majored in art history and picked up a predilection for photography. While in Arizona she also picked up a husband, the father of her daughter Heather. Linda’s first rushed marriage is often described as something Linda entered into under the influence of grief, after her mother died.
After college she moved back to New York, and got a job as a receptionist at Town and Country magazine. Linda’s big photography break was a chance opportunity to photograph the Rolling Stones on a yacht. She grabbed her camera, snapped her pictures and suddenly her pictures were in high demand.
Linda was naturally a good photographer. She watched people with eager eyes, and took the photo when it was the right moment. Her pictures created a scene or established a character, and were often considered beautiful, sometimes moody and gritty.
Linda’s photography skills made her a member of the music scene. She captured The Doors, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, and eventually the Beatles. She became a Rolling Stone magazine photographer.
Linda is said to have had many amorous relationships with the musicians she photographed. Most notorious, was her relationship with Jimi Hendrix. In the first interview Paul gave after Linda had passed away, he was asked about his past rendezvous in relation to Linda’s rendezvous. Paul thought that Linda and him had about the same experience, though is doubtful that Linda could have ever caught up to Paul.
She met Paul for the first time in England at a music club called The Bag O’ Nails. Paul noticed her almost immediately. That same year she took the famous Sergeant Pepper pictures, the ones with Paul and John shaking hands in an overly exaggerated way. The first picture of Paul and Linda together was snapped during this photo shoot.
A "dirty weekend," as Linda referred to it, was next, and also included discussions of books, philosophies, passions. It wasn’t long before Paul was completely smitten. He asked Linda and Heather to live with him in London, and Linda accepted. Sometime during their courtship Linda told a friend that she wasn’t quite sure about Paul, she thought she didn’t really have a chance at a serious relationship with such a playboy and celebrity. But Paul always knew Linda was special—she always returned to his thoughts.
In 1969, Paul and Linda married and George and Patti Boyd were arrested for possession of marijuana the same day. John and Yoko married within two weeks of Paul and Linda.
During the infamous Beatles money disputes, Paul wanted Linda’s father to handle their money. The other three Beatles were decidedly against involving family members, and any other people close to them. It is also rumored that the rest of the Beatles didn’t necessarily trust Linda and her intentions. Same went for Yoko when she first appeared on the scene (and oftentimes after too).
When Paul and Linda married, Linda was about four or five months pregnant with their first daughter Mary. Mary was born around the time of the Beatles breakup, and Paul has said that was the first time he ever saw magic.
When Paul’s first solo album came out, he decided that he would be the first to announce the breakup. Almost half of this album is about, or dedicated to, Linda ("La La La, La La La, the Lovely Linda).
Distraught and stricken over the breakup, Paul hid away with Linda at his remote farm in Scotland for a while. Their second daughter Stella was born within two years of Mary, and along with her birth, and a hard labor for Linda, came Wings. Paul wanted to be with Linda and the family, and Linda wanted to be with Paul and the family, so Linda joined the band. Her voice and musical talents were derided, but she did eventually improve on the piano. Her voice was inconsistent, but sweet, and sometimes even nearly beautiful.
Amidst all this, Linda and Paul decided to become vegetarians. One day, they looked out the window at the lambs they were raising, and the lamb on their plates, and decided to give up meat.
Linda and Paul became big animal rights activists. Linda also enjoyed cooking, and she wanted to share her food with others, so she wrote a cook book and started a frozen food line. She made millions, and Paul often joked that her frozen food line was taking in more money than the Beatles ever did.
Wings had several different members, and lasted until about 1980, when Paul was busted for marijuana in Japan. His ten day stay in the prison would be the longest that Paul and Linda had ever been, and ever was, separated. Paul is often quoted as saying that in their 29 year marriage, they were only separated one night—excluding the prison incident. Of course, this was not the only time that Linda and Paul had been caught in possession of marijuana.
In the early ‘70s the McCartney’s earned an Academy Award nomination for the theme of the James Bond Film, "Live and Let Die." In the late ‘70s they had their last child, a boy named James.
From there, Linda continued to have hearty meals and lots of family time. And she always took pictures. Over the years she acquired many pictures, which eventually turned into a retrospective ‘60s photo book.
In December of 1995, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer. In 1996 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from PETA for her animal-rights work.
By 1997, she was in remission, but it wasn’t long before the cancer came back, and headed towards her liver. She died on April 19, 1998 in her Arizona home, with her family by her side.
Paul pledged to carry on with his late wife’s animal rights and vegetarian campaigns. He has stuck to his word, though he is now a bit more vocal about land mines because this is his second’s wife passion.
Today people remember Linda as a loving person, photographer, mother and wife. Sometimes, they even drop and ignore her last name.
