Linda Bowles.
Photo courtesy of worldnetdaily.com
Posted on 05/15/2003 7:59:03 AM PDT by SlickWillard
Linda Bowles. Photo courtesy of worldnetdaily.com |
By Rick Silva - Managing editor
Nationally-syndicated columnist Linda Bowles died April 30 at Merced-area hospital after she committed suicide, the Paradise Post learned yesterday.
No memorial service will be held out of respect for her final wishes.
Bowles, 51, whose column appeared in the Chico Enterprise-Record, the Houston Post, Washington Times, Chicago Tribune, Arkansas Democ-rat-Gazette and WorldNetDaily.com, reportedly never recovered from the loss of her husband Warren. She also appeared on and was a frequent guest host for Liveline with Bruce Ses-sions show on KPAY.
In a statement released by her only daughter Mi-chelle Bowles early Wednes-day night she said, "The coroner's re-port will tell you she purposely overdosed on antidepressants. The reality is she died due to complications of the heart."
"To say she had a weak or failed heart would be untrue," the statement continued. "To say she suffered from a broken heart would be an understatement."
John Arguelles, a deputy in the Merced County Coroners office said Bowles' death is still under investigation.
"We haven't completed our investigation and we haven't ruled on the manner of death," Arguelles said.
County officials say that toxicology reports will come back in four weeks.
Her death comes nearly a year after her husband, Warren, died of an inoperable brain tumor. The illness forced Bowles to discontinue her column for Creative Syndicate on Feb. 25, 2002.
In her column that appeared on WorldNetDaily she told readers "This may very well be the last column I will write … I can't see beyond the battle to the future."
Joseph Farah, the CEO and editor of WorldNetDaily, said yesterday Bowles' death was a loss and she never recovered from the death of her husband on May 31 of last year.
"She told me she couldn't live without him," he said. "I kept telling her that she could, just one day at a time. She was devastated by her loss and, frankly, never recovered emotionally from it."
Farah met Bowles when she was a columnist for the Sacramento Union.
"Linda Bowles was an unusually gifted writer," he said. "She had a way of reaching deep into people's souls with her use of the language. It was our honor at WorldNetDaily to carry her column until the day she suspended it due to the death of her husband."
Former Butte County Sheriff Scott MacKenzie said he met Bowles once at a political function and was impressed by her.
"She seemed to be a straight-forward, very sincere person," he said "who was an honest individual and who wrote exactly what she believed."
He called Bowles' death a "real tragedy and a real loss to those who read it and was a good conservative?"
Republican Assemblyman Rick Keene, who represents the Ridge, met with Bowles a few times for dinner and saw her give a couple of speeches.
"Every time she spoke, she spoke about how special her husband was," Keene said. "She adored him. It's very sad to hear and she was gracious person."
Keene said her columns were good for the political debate in the country.
"She stimulated good debate, pulling no punches and that is rare in this day and age," he said.
The company that syndicated her column to papers like Enterprise-Record, Creative Syndicate Inc., didn't know about Bowles' death until a reporter called Wednesday morning asking about it. No one at Creative Syndicate Inc had any comment yesterday.
Her columns also appeared at TownHall.com and for the Conservative Chronicle. A secretary for the Conservative Chronicle said she was unaware of Bowles' death, but had no further comment and TownHall didn't return phone calls yesterday.
Bowles began her writing career through a weekly political column in California's Mariposa Guide. This opened the door for a regular column in the now-defunct Sacramento Union n where Farah was an editor.
She also wrote, various self-syndicated and freelance articles for newspapers across the country until she met Creative Syndicate's Rick 051, through Farah. That led to that company's decision to offer her a"syndicate contract," which Farah said was "very unusual for a practically unknown writer."
She was known to enjoy irritating liberals, telling Townhall.com that "I believe a large audience awaits a good, thorough whacking of left-wing icons and ideology, done with parody and satire."
"To me, Linda was not only a gifted writer," Farah said. "She was my friend — a valued friend. I am feeling the loss today.""
http://worldnetdaily.com/speakers/lbowles.aspYesterday's FR thread, which did not give a cause of death, is here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/911848/posts
Yesterday's thread said: "After the loss of her beloved husband-hero Warren in May of 2002, (my mother) suffered from severe depression that she never overcame," said Michelle Bowles. "The coroner's report will tell you she purposely overdosed on antidepressants. The reality is she died due to complications of the heart. If you knew Linda, you knew her beloved Warren. To say she had a weak or failed heart would be untrue. To say she suffered from a broken heart would be an understatement."
Rest well, Ms. Bowles.
Is it just me, or it this sentence unreadable?
As to Linda, I too will miss her. She would show up on KSFO on occasion, and I found her to be a witty and inspirational woman. I knew she was still mourning her husband, but had no idea of the depths of it. RIP Linda.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ping list.
It's just you, I can read it just fine.
UNDERSTANDING it is another story, I'm with you on that!
;-)
I don't think she was getting help for it. She was getting *medicine* for it but that is not the same thing. She needed someone to care enough and give time enough to help her through all the heartache and loneliness until she found the will to move on. Somehow, the comforts and isolation of living in a nice area probably sheltered her from what she really needed most - human contact.
Of course, some will sink into depression no matter what you do and some will pretend to be okay while thinking about killing themselves underneath.
Yet I somehow doubt she had the support system in place to help her cope with this and that's what's really sad. It's so easy for the widow to get all sorts of attention for the month or so after the husband dies and then is left alone with everyone else assuming *somebody else* will provide the long-term care.
I think this happens far too often for people who are not public figures but it doesn't make the headlines unless they start shooting a gun off in a public place. There's a lot of lonely folks out here.
Are you talking about the '..died....after she committed suicide..' thing?
No, it was the one E had up -
He called Bowles' death a "real tragedy and a real loss to those who read it and was a good conservative?"
Looks like the editor was snoozing. ;-)
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