Mary Alice Kemery popularly known as
Linda
Goodman (
April 9 1925 -
October 21 1995) was a
New York
Times bestselling American
astrologer and
poet.
Early life and background
Linda
Goodman was born in Morgantown, West Virginia
. Although Goodman never revealed her year of
birth, swearing even her father to silence, it emerged posthumously
that she was born in 1925.
According
to her birth certificate, on file at the American Federation of
Astrologers in Tempe,
Arizona
, she was born on April 9, 1925 at 6:05 a.m.
EST in Morgantown, West Virginia (
Today's Astrologer,
February 6, 2008, p. 11). By her own account she was born in her
maternal grandparents' house on 115 Kingwood Street. She attended
and graduated from
Parkersburg
High School in 1943.
Career
Linda
Goodman assumed the name "Linda" during World War II for a popular WCOM
radio show in Parkersburg that she hosted called
Love Letters from Linda. Each show consisted of
Linda reading letters written between soldiers and their
loved ones. Each letter was punctuated with a popular song of the
day. While working in radio, she met her second husband, Sam O.
Goodman, and took his last name.
She began her career writing for newspapers in the eastern and
southeastern United States. She also wrote speeches for black
American
civil rights leader
Whitney Young, who served for several years as
president of the
National Urban
League.
Astrology/Writings
Some have suggested that Linda Goodman was responsible for
accelerating the growth of the
New Age
movement through the unprecedented success of her first
astrology book
Linda Goodman's Sun Signs
(1968). This was the first
astrology book
ever to earn a spot on the
New York Times Bestseller
List. It was followed
Linda Goodman's Love Signs
(1978), which also made the
New York Times Bestseller
List.
Other books by Linda Goodman include:
- Venus Trines at Midnight (1970)
- Linda Goodman’s Love Poems (1980)
- Linda Goodman’s Star Signs: The Secret Codes of the
Universe A Practical Guide for the New Age (1987)
- Gooberz (1989)
- Linda Goodman’s Relationship Signs (1998)
Gooberz, begun in 1967, is a long
epic poem riddled with a myriad of
occult references and
symbolism. It is also a thinly veiled
autobiography, which explores two of her
significant romantic relationships: her marriage to William Snyder
and her love affair with marine biologist Robert Brewer. It also
touches on the birth of her four children Sally Snyder, Bill
Snyder, Jill Goodman and Michael Goodman. The book surveys her
ideas on
reincarnation,
karma,
love, and
miracles.
Personal life
Daughter
Goodman's books also reference what she referred to as the
"disappearance" of her eldest daughter, Sally Snyder, and the
mystery around her reported death. Linda Goodman spent much money
and many years trying to find Sally, long after police closed the
case as a suicide or accidental suicide.
A businesswoman from Ireland named Crystal Bush befriended Goodman
at the end of her life and obtained the publicity rights to Linda
Goodman's name at her death. Crystal Bush published the book
Linda Goodman's Relationship Signs after Linda's
death.
Linda made Cripple Creek, Colorado
her home during the latter part of her adult life
and she died there onOctober 21
1995, aged 70, from complications of
diabetes.
References
External links
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