Linda Shipman Remembered

In late 2015 Cynthia announced that she wanted to put her Sierra Madre house on the market, and the realtor had advised her to "declutter". We don't remember which one of us decided that the team was needed at Cynthia's, but Linda, Mary Ann, Beverly and Barbara flew out to declutter. Our plan was to work on the house for four days, and then have a weekend tag sale. Each person took an area of responsibility. Mary Ann spent days on the linen closets. By the time she was finished, the few remaining sheets and towels were organized by color and type; Cynthia continues to mourn the loss of her sheets and towels. You have never seen a basement like Cynthia's: we unearthed at least three unused tents, enough Christmas ornaments to decorate five trees, all kinds of sports equipment, and furniture to outfit yet another house. After we hauled out the "trash" (always a debatable term between the owner of the house and the declutterers) from the basement, Li...

We met Skip and Linda in 2004, when Barbara Camph planned a surprise birthday party for Tommy. She arranged for a bunch of us to stay at a farmhouse in Normandy, where, a few days later, she and Tommy would join us for the celebration. That was the plan, and it didn’t happen that way, but that’s another story. Tom and I took the train to Rouen, and then we dawdled. Right across the street from the train station is the restaurant where Julia Child had her culinary epiphany, so we made a pilgrimage there to have a fabulous, long French lunch. Then we had to rent a car; that took as long as the lunch had. By the time we got on the road, it was early evening. Traffic was bad, and the directions to the farmhouse were terrible. One line read, “Turn left one-quarter kilometer before the church.” We got lost. Several times. When we finally arrived at the farmhouse—or what we hoped was the farmhouse—it was after one. The white, two-story farmhouse house was dark. The whole countryside was dar...

(Barbara speaking): In mid-December we got a call from Linda. At the time, we were living in Michigan while Tommy was undergoing chemo. Linda invited us to come for Christmas (invited = gently urged = I won't take no for an answer). We flew to BWI, where Linda picked us up wearing some ridiculous hat. Decorating the Christmas tree was always a big event in the Shipman household. Champagne was opened. Margaret took her position in the perfect chair, to watch and comment on the decorating. Boxes of beautiful, old ornaments came out of storage, and each one found the perfect spot on the tree. Decorating took hours; Skip and Tommy quickly found something else to do. Our visit quickly became party central, as Skip and Linda invited all to come party with us. (Nancy speaking):I could not make this event, but had a private evening the day following. Barb and Linda "womaned" the kitchen, and Tommy and I enjoyed cocktails. I really felt like company when we actually had...

Margaret was the original champagne glass painter, but Linda took over that family "job" and really made it her own. She called me one day, and told me that a package had been delivered to me, that I should get it and call her back. She had gifted me with six of her handpainted glasses. I was overwhelmed and so very delighted...not everyone got a set of Linda originals! Several years later I invited myself over to Deepwater Trail so that Linda could teach me glass painting, her way. You can only imagine how much fun we had because we didn't take any photos. Linda was wonderfully artistic and creative, and it was a joy to work with her, as well as enjoy her creations.

I met Linda right after Skip did in 1978. D Street was always hopping with parties with the usual motley crew. We did this crazy thing of leaning back on the (still prized) butcher block table, downing a shot of tequila, sucking on a lime and licking salt from your hand -- many of us sat up choking, but of course we kept right on "reclining" to the challenge. How excited I was about the building of their home in Annapolis which Linda documented weekly (it was also fun to tease Skip when it ended up the cover feature in the Home Washington Post section). It was a beautiful place from which they entertained well. Their sailing trips were awesome; I recall receiving this new thing called an email decades ago from some island I had never heard of sharing their adventures. Barb has already regaled you with tales from the Tiki House in 2005, but we sure had an incredible time (imagine being told to quiet down in the Police Dept?). Crabs were another favorite. At Mike...

Linda took organization to another level. Since we shared a love of reading, and similar habits, she frequently sent me lists of books she and Skip enjoyed. Here's the last one she sent me, just a month or so ago. Sorry it is so hard to read; the scanner and I are fighting this morning.

This first one is at the Tiki House but I don't remember when This photo is at our house in El Cerrito, but I don't remember exactly when (somewhere between 1980 and 1982, I think), or why we were posing this way (maybe a bathroom break was needed?). Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, when our group got together, we called the weekends "His Hair was Perfect" weekends, and, of course, had t-shirts made. This photo is from one of those weekends (note the matching t-shirts). And then there was the Thanksgiving at the Tiki House, called "Tiki Turkey", with t-shirts For Tommy's 60th birthday, we planned a surprise party. The group flew to France and made their way to a house I rented; Peter, Miranda, Tommy and I were to join them and Tommy was supposed to be surprised that the group was there. Before we could go from London to France, Tommy ended up in the hospital and we couldn't travel. The group made this wonderful birthday card, then spent ...

Linda, Nancy, Pam and I (Barbara) decided to have a girls' weekend in summer 1995, before Tommy and I went off to Portugal. We had the usual amount of cocktails, food, and visit to Key West. As I recall, the toilet wasn't working and Linda supplied a bucket instead. One day we decided to walk a portion of the 7 Mile Bridge. We drove to the bridge parking lot, opened the trunk and put our purses in the trunk. We had our walk, and then went shopping. AND then we discovered that we had all been robbed! Yes, it was real clever of us to telegraph to the waiting thieves that our valuables were in the trunk! I lost about $500 but both Linda and Nancy lost jewelry. We went to the police station to report our losses. They kept us waiting a long time; I guess we got rowdy because we were asked to be quiet...several times.

Linda loved puzzles...jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles, sudukos, etc. Whenever I visited, she would sit on one end of the couch, and I on the other, both enjoying the time with each other and our own puzzles.

Cynthia has THE perfect party house: lots of big common areas, plenty of bedrooms, a fabulous kitchen and a great outdoor area. And it is gorgeous. Anyway, she offered to host my 60th birthday party, and I was plenty excited to see my pals, particularly since we were living abroad. We communicated on the guest list, and Linda helped organize the party from her home. But I was sad when Linda announced that she and Skip wouldn't be able to come to the party and the excuse seemed pretty compelling. At least, we all believed it. During the party, a limo rolled up to the front door.... and there were Skip and Linda. Cynthia yelled "you f*g liars!" over and over...and then the party partied on. There may have been other tricks that weekend; I can't quite remember. But it was wonderful to have the master trick lady do it again!

More photos from our 2019 trip. 1) tour of Matera with our German guide who was married to an Italian from Matera. 2) cave restaurant in Matera 3) At the opera house in Bologna. Our friend Valerio Galli was the Maestro that evening. 4) Still smiling at the end of the trip back in Rome.

This was from our 2019 trip to southern and central Italy. 1) Linda and I enjoying Aperol spritzes in Matera 2) A fabulous lunch in a Matera restaurant which was built into one of the caves the city is famous for. 3) Of course another lunch this time in Lecce. Trattoria Le Zie, good food and very fun place.

Carl and I (Mary Ann Fontana)made 2 trips to Italy with Skip and Linda. The first was June of 2016. We had never traveled with them before so we had a few planning conversations about our trip beforehand. The itinerary was to fly to Palermo and drive along the entire coastline of the island returning to Palermo 2 weeks later. Since my mother was born outside of Palermo and I speak passable Italian of course I took the lead (as I tend to do) with drawing up the plan. Apparently at one point during our planning conversations I said I didn't see any problems as long as everyone did as I said. Linda got a laugh out of that and often reminded me of my blatant "bossiness". I have to say Linda was the perfect traveling companion. She found something fun in every circumstance. She was a real GEM and will be sorely missed. photos: 1) Ruins of Agrigento 2 )Cooking School in Modica 3) Pasticceria of Maria Gramatica in Erice - the most famous pastry chef in Sicily 4) Linda eat...