Today in 1941

She was born on this day (24th September) in 1941 and her life inspired thousands of young women. She was married to one of the most famous musicians in history. She died too young of breast cancer. I personally think that she was a very beautiful person, within her soul and her spirit. She was Linda McCartney!

Linda Louise Eastman was born in New York, the second of four children. Her father was Lee Eastman who practiced entertainment law in New York. Her mother was Louise Sara Eastman and was born from a Germn-Jewish family. Linda graduated from Scarsdale High School in 1959, and then attended Vermont College, where she received an Associate of Arts degree in 1961.

Linda loved nature and animals and, after graduating from Vermont College, attended the University of Arizona, where Linda majored in fine arts. In Arizona, Linda took up nature photography as a hobby. In 1962, Linda’s mother was killed in a plane crash, which put a hatred for travelling by air in Linda.

In December, 1962, Linda married Melville See and they had one daughter, Heather. The marriage did not work and Linda got a divorce, returning to the family home with Heather, which was in Manhattan. She was hired by “Town and Country” magazine and soon fell in love with photographer David Dalton, who was more like a mentor to her. Linda learnt the basics of lighting, composition, tone and framing from her mentor.

Linda started taking photographic assignments herself and enjoyed working mainly with music groups. She could ‘handle’ the musicians and was soon working as a professional. Linda was beautiful and they just could not say ‘no’ to her. Linda’s career started to change when the magazine wanted her to photograph the Rolling Stones, and from here, she went on to take photos backstage of the Beatles at Shea Stadium. Linda became the photographer at the Fillmore East Concert Hall, and she photographed John Lennon, Bob Dylan, the Doors, Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix, among others. It was at this time that Linda met and started to date Paul McCartney. They got married in 1969, and by this time, Linda was a ‘keen music enthusiast’.

After the Beatles split in 1970, Paul started his own band “Wings” and taught Linda how to play the keyboard. Their first album was “RAM” and the couple were soon receiving Grammy awards. Paul suffered with severe depression but Linda helped him through it, and the couple remained happily married, having three children together, with Paul formally adopting Heather, Linda’s first daughter.

The McCartneys’ became vegetarian in 1071, and Linda promoted a vegetarian diet through her cookbooks: “Linda McCartney’s Home Cooking”, “Linda’s Kitchen” and “Simple and Inspiring Recipes for Meatless Meals”. The couple became animal rights activists, with Linda supporting many organizations. She also introduced a line of frozen vegetarian meals, which made her a wealthy woman.

In 1995, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer and the cancer spread through her body. “The doctors had told me privately that we’d caught it too late”. Linda died on 17th April, 1998. She was only 56 years of age! Paul said that the best tribute fans could ‘give’ was to “go veggie”. Linda loved Paul so much that she left all her property, royalties from books and the rights to her photos --- to him alone.

In 1999, Paul performed at the Royal Albert Hall at the “Concert for Linda” tribute, which had been organized by two of Linda’s friends: Chrissie Hynde and Carla Lane. Paul donated over 2 million dollars to Cancer Research in memory of Linda. They really did love each other!

Linda was a beautiful person, inside and out, and left her mark within the pages of history. It is a true saying: “the good die young”. “Anyone who cares about the Earth --- really cares --- must stop eating animals” = Linda McCartney.