In Memory

Linda Rubin - Class Of 1969

Date Deceased: 11-12-2016
Age at Death: 64
Cause of Death: Cancer
Classmate City: Pacific Palisades
Classmate State: CA
Classmate Country: USA

Linda has been a friend of mine since we were in 7th grade, although we actually met when we were in 6th grade and met on the date we both took the test to get into Hunter College JHS, wearing the same outfit--hers was purple, of course. We shared so many good times over the years and had so many wonderful memories. She fought a long, hard battle with a rare form of cancer, and she did so bravely and strongly, as she did always did everything. I will miss her every day for the rest of my life. The last thing I said to her was I loved her and I always would. May she rest in peace and may G-d hold her in the palm of His hand.--(Donna Bayer Rapsher)




 
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11/12/16 08:50 PM #1    

Ellen Perle (1969)

I was devastated to learn today that we lost Linda to the disease she stared in the face and tried and succeeded for so long to defeat.  Linda was so special - with her Janice Joplinesque style, wry sense of humor, incredible intelligence and spiritual bent - she said what she meant and meant what she said and she was a true and caring friend.   Last year, Linda and I shared our respective experiences with cancer - our hopes and our fears and I longed to see and hug her but as has too many times been the case, life events and circumstances got in the way of transversing the country to do so.   I have so many memories of Linda as a classmate from 7th grade to 12th grade.  She attended my wedding years later, dancing, smiling and laughing - which is how I will, in part remember her, but I will most likely picture her sitting cross-legged on the living room carpet in my East Flatbush home, holding up the oaktag sign that advertised the 7th grade sorority of sorts that our group had formed to honor our entry into pre-adolescence "The Sparklers Club."  What sweet days those were.    Sweet journey Ms. Rubin into a peaceful rest. 


11/13/16 12:11 PM #2    

Michael Traverso (1969)

August '63 Linda was amongst the very first to befriend me as the new kid on the block. It was nice to have a friendly face when entering Winthrop JHS a few weeks later. Rest in peace sweet Linda. 


11/14/16 04:31 PM #3    

Faye Nalitt (Halpern) (1969)

Dedicated to the memory of Linda J. Rubin.




11/14/16 06:26 PM #4    

Juan Rivero (1969)

Many of us are feeling a terrible sense of loss knowing that Linda is no longer physically on this earth. But after the tears, and the many more to come, I find solace in remembering Linda's commitment to good causes, her intellect, her energy, her bravery, her joy, her empathy, her loyalty, her freedom, her meaningful life. Some people place a small stone, something solid and lasting, on the tomb of the dearly departed as a sign that we remember them.  Well, Linda managed to place something very solid and lasting in me while she was alive. She gave me the stone of her friendship and spirtiuality that will never roll away. May she rest in peace.


11/15/16 08:53 AM #5    

Phyllis Livingston (Yen R) (1969)

I remember Linda as my seventh grade classmate. She was ry friendly and very ethical. 


11/15/16 02:07 PM #6    

James Pankow (1969)

On Friday April 5, 1968, my mother woke me and told me that it was time to get up, that Martin Luther King had been assassinated the previous evening.  

I remember thinking that wasn't good news.  

I was among the few white kids that went to school that day...Linda and Ellen Perle were among some others that went.  

A great number of justifably angry black kids also came.  

As some of you will remember, the school was in an uproar.  The principal decided that classes were hopeless, so he'd call a general assembly.  In hindsight, that doesn't seem like in principle it was a great idea.  They put out an open mic for people to vent.   It was all very angry black kids as speakers, at least at the beginning (remember, this is post about Linda) and a very angry audience, .  I wish I remembered what some of the black kids said....  

Then Linda got up to speak.   I remember thinking something along the lines "holy shit, are you kidding me?"  Linda got to the mic, and she made some comments about what she thought could make things better.  But, um, the audience would not have any of that from a white kid at that point in time, and the place then really erupted.  I and Ellen and some other kids sitting in the back then chose that time to make a fearful exit. Fortunately, to the great credit of the others there, there was not a complete riot.

Obviously, Linda was absolutely fearless in her willingness to try and make things better as she could. I am sorry that she is gone, and very sorry that I let our acquaintanceship/friendship lapse.  (We did exchange a few emails in recent years, thanks to this website.)  She definitely was a good and completely courageous person that gave us all an example of how to live.

Warm regards to all of my former classmates.

Jim

 


11/15/16 04:41 PM #7    

Donna Bayar (Repsher) (1969)

Linda and I had many similar musical tastes, and were both fans of Donovan, back in the day. Snippets of this song had been playing in my head but I wasn't able to place them until today. From Donovan's album, "Sunshine Superman", this song is "Legend of a Girl Child Linda", and I've always thought it suited her.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=legend+of+a+girl+child+linda

 

 

 


11/15/16 10:04 PM #8    

Anna Cooper (Rosenberg) (1969)

 I think we were in the same Honor English class-but not sure. We werent friendly at all. I do remember her as being intelligent and very funky in a good way. She always stood out, again, in a good way. We spoke at the 40th reunion and I realized how nice and genuine she was. Still, not really being friends.

Then I started reading and responding to facebook posts- which, I still am not a big fan of! However, I read Linda's. Then, as we all know, her condition worsened with time.  I wrote to her often and told her "God is not ready for you". he wants  you here on earth.  No matter what and when I wrote her, she always responded- quickly and positively.  She was a fighter and put up one of the strongest battles I have ever seen. What a hero. She was one of the nicest, friendliest and truest people I have come across.

When I read of of her passing, I  felt my heart sink-literally. What a tremendous loss to all of us and humanity.

I am sorry she did suffer . God finally did want her to be with him.

Anna Cooper-Rosenberg


11/17/16 04:06 PM #9    

Harry Pincus (1969)

Linda Rubin is gone, and the world has lost a caring and brilliant woman. 

We have lost a piece of our lives, and an important member of our childhood village. Somehow, my gauzy memory of the brick buildings in our neighborhood, drenched in late afternoon sunshine for our punch ball, and our music, does not include some of the darker aspects of our neighborhood. 

I used to buy the Jewish Daily Foward (the Fauverts) every day for my Grandmother. Little did I know that the man who sold it to me was one of the few survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto. The  knish store on Utica Avenue featured a framed photograph of a weeping Jew, his glasses shattered by the Nazis. None of us ever asked why it was required of us to look at this disturbing image every time we wanted to  purchase a cherrry cheese knish.

Linda told me that her parents were socialists, as was my father. She seemed to have absorbed the seriousness of the world around us at a very young age, and was always one of the wisest in the little group of "SP" kids that were classed together, year after year. With knowlege, and sensitivity, came a burden of wanting to "repair the world", which is part of the Jewish tradition.

Linda never abrogated her responsibility to make the world a better place. Some of the pain of this world seemed to seep into her very bones, and her intelligence and goodness may have weighed heavily upon her. She lived with pain and illness for much of her life. Life isn't fair. It shouldn't have been that way for dear Linda, who was good.

Perhaps she thought she was alone. But she wasn't. She wrote to me this past year and said "I wish I had known you better".

In truth, those of us who grew up togther really do know each other, better.

Rest In Peace, dear Linda.

Harry Pincus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


12/10/16 10:00 PM #10    

Faye Nalitt (Halpern) (1969)

Dedicated to the memory of Linda Rubin, an extraordinarily enriching person, who always tried to be at the top of her game. There is no better way to remember the intelligent, talented news editor and documentarist that she was than by watching one of her documentaries for Patch. http://cdn.patch.com/users/40292/2011/12/18b45d0ab4dbf32cbfe38781ce8428a1.mp4

 


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