Our family has suffered a painful loss.
Linda G. Green, who most recently served Pool & Spa News and Aquatics International as copy editor, passed away unexpectedly early this year.
In her 30-plus years here, she filled a number of roles. While she left the company nearly 10 years ago, she continues to have an impact, largely because of the knowledge she imparted on our editorial staffers who were lucky enough to work with her.
Linda came to PSN in the 1980s after having held reporting and editing positions on local newspapers in her home state of Oregon,
where she also attended Pacific University. In her three decades here, she adapted and served how and where needed. She started as a
reporter, then was named business editor. But it was in the late 1990s that a wise editor truly locked into Linda’s super power – her intense devotion to and near-encyclopedic knowledge of spelling, grammar, AP Style, and Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Word of advice: Don’t try getting past her with another dictionary!). These are the sources we use in combination to guide us regarding punctuation, grammar, and the like.
She became our copy editor. In this role, she earned three Jesse H. Neal Awards for her contributions to stories in Aquatics International.
Toward the end of her tenure here, her writing was once again needed, so she added reporting and product coverage to her duties. After she left, she served as a freelance writer for several years.
In addition to her skills at making sure we upheld high standards, Linda added a consistent and anchoring presence to our operation. She was an intensely private person, so she didn’t divulge much about herself, and the more personal things I think she’d prefer to remain that way. But I’d like to share her essence.
I don’t know her exact age, because Linda kept that bit of information where she thinks it belongs — in her employee files. She felt uncomfortable being photographed, so we were lucky to get this lovely portrait shot about 10 or 11 years ago.
She was at least partially of German descent and studied German in school. So she was tickled anytime she had the opportunity to speak it or help someone get the pronunciation just right. I can still see her repeating “Fahrvergnügen” with the hand flourish of a maestro as she demonstrated proper pronunciation.
She was mild-mannered and quiet. She had a soothing speaking voice that she used for some voiceover work. She loved comedians whose humor was clean and kind, and she adored her cats. Like us, her pets were lucky to have her, although she’d argue that she was the lucky one.
In keeping with her personality, Linda hated confrontation, but she had a strong sense of when she was right. In those cases, she dug deep, sat you down, and explained her problem and where she was coming from. Sometimes for comic relief, she’d ironically sprinkle in a haughty, old-timey sounding phrase or accent for the sake of self deprecation — to show that, yes, this was important to her but, no, she didn’t take herself too seriously.
As our copy editor, she held very strong opinions about grammar and style. She took a more traditional approach than I, so we disagreed sometimes. I always remember one issue in particular: the use of “an” before the word “historic.” When I pointed out that “an” isn’t required anymore, she asked me to humor her, because, “it just drives me crazy to see it the other way.” I have done so ever since, and I will continue to do so. And anytime I see the use of “a historic,” I will hear Linda’s cry of, “Gad!”
There has never been anybody like Linda G. Green, and there never will be again.
