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I had long been the custodian of artefacts of my sister's career in the form of a collection of programmes, reviews, postcards and letters. I used what I had of that plus some other family photos to create this website.
The headers on most of the web pages have been scanned from Linda's hand-written page titles.
Linda was a talented actress and still in the process of learning her craft when she died. She was a good elder sister to me, also introducing me to the world that she inhabited after she left home in 1962/1963. I was then 12, Linda was 21. One of the first real parties I went to was at a friend of Linda's, and having convinced a horrified schoolfriend to come down for the weekend, it proved to be a challenging experience for both of us, but more so for him I suspect, as I had seen the gay life emerging more openly over the years and he had not. I had taken it for granted that Linda had, for the early 1960s, some slightky wild and sometimes strange friends.
I was not a good younger brother, however, being too locked into my own interests. I was quite self-sufficient concentrating on my own life and had little interest in the theatre and in the details of Linda's world. As I got older, and as my life stabilised, my interests changed and I regret not sharing that with her.
As my own life has moved on, my elder sister has become my younger sister. And I miss not having shared my life with her. I'd have liked my children to have known her.
When we came back to Australia for a visit and stayed, I had some time to put Linda's book into a format that may last and may be seen by some of those who knew her. But then again maybe not.
Had she lived I am sure she would have had a brilliant career. How interesting it all could have been.
... Paul Horne, 19th and 20th November 2001 |