Linda Lay Shuler

Linda Shuler (1910-2011) was a brilliant, creative, ambitious woman born before her time. She wrote and produced for radio in the days women were expected to stay at home, receiving awards against conglomerate giants. Television was a new medium at the time, and she jumped right into it, writing, producing, and directing travel documentaries for the Texas Highway Department, writing and producing a traffic courtroom series, and establishing radio/TV workshops. The biggest accomplishment in her film life was when she wrote, directed, and produced a fivescreen film, the first of its type. Sponsored by Humble Oil (Exxon), it was presented at the 1968 Hemisfair in San Antonio, in a circular building created especially for it. But perhaps her most lasting professional accomplishments were her three novels. In her younger days, Linda was a political activist. Her personal files include personal correspondence from President Nixon and from George Bush when he was Chair of the Republican National Committee, government officials of note, editors, journalists, and executives. She was always curious about the world and its turnings, past and present. A voracious reader spurred by a thirst for knowledge, she collected a small library on a variety of subjects, including the literary and artistic, historical, and scientific. One of her most compelling interests was the history of Native Americans, particularly the ancient Anasazi and Aztec civilizations. Linda dreamed of travel until her last breath. She cruised up the Nile and explored the pyramids in Egypt, journeyed over the expanse of South America from the tip of Chili up the continent through Mexico (during this time she had her portrait done by the renown Ecuadorian painter Guayasamin), and discovered Puerto Vallarta before it was “found” by tourists. She traveled the Amazon River in a canoe, visited Hawaii for her 50th wedding anniversary, and toured England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. She toured Australia and New Zealand, too, as well as cruising Tahiti and the surrounding islands. When she turned 100, she still spoke of wanting to go on a train ride somewhere, or cruising to an exotic clime, or spending long afternoons on a beach.