I was born in the early 60's and really aware of all the changes going on in society. One big example that stood out was Linda having a job most would only consider for a man -a telephone tech. I believe she even climbed telephone poles in the job. That was very impressionable on me. I remember her when she was still a teen, but most of my earliest memories of her were as a newlywed to Michael, and they had a neat little rental house a few blocks from the Arkansas Governors Mansion.
A few years on they moved to Fayetteville. We went to visit them in the winter of 1969. I remember feeling like theirs was a charmed life -Fayetteville was nice and cold, in the mountains, they lived in an apartment complex that like most of the town back then, was full of college students. Linda had a Volkswagen Beetle, which I really liked.
Beyond the general coolness of their college lifestyle for me to be excited about, on my birthday (Dec 6th 1969) the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas Longhorns played against each other in Fayetteville. That game went down in history as one of all college football's most important, often called The Game of the Century (wikipedia). I saw on TV that Richard Nixon was there, and less known at the time; Congressman George Bush and student Bill Clinton were there too.
Beyond the general coolness of their college lifestyle for me to be excited about, on my birthday (Dec 6th 1969) the Arkansas Razorbacks and Texas Longhorns played against each other in Fayetteville. That game went down in history as one of all college football's most important, often called The Game of the Century (wikipedia). I saw on TV that Richard Nixon was there, and less known at the time; Congressman George Bush and student Bill Clinton were there too.
We went to visit the site of a Civil War battle at Pea Ridge/Elkhorn Tavern on Sunday the 7th. I got a souvenir musket bullet, which I kept through many years and may still be at my parents.
All these details kind of add up to a story of how cool Linda was to me. She was a tomboy and liberated woman, by Arkansas standards in those years, and her and Michael were a couple focused on getting him through a Masters degree. All that was unique and inspirational in my eyes, just what a little boy needs to see.
(Originally posted as part of a family eulogy for Linda's obituary. A blog dedicated to the memory of Linda Faye King Sanders was created with photos and memories posted by her family are here: linda-faye-king-sanders.blogspot.com.)
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| Lance, Linda, Renee. Late 1960's |
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| Linda and Martha (my aunt and mom) late 1960's |
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| Linda with her daughter Michelle. Mid 1970's. |
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