In Celebration Of Linda Bowles (A Tribute By Joseph Farah)

WorldnetDaily ^ | 5/20/03 | Joseph Farah

[goldstategop]

Joseph Farah

In celebration of Linda Bowles

Posted: May 20, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com

My friend Linda Bowles, a gifted and brilliant columnist, didn't want any memorials.

I will honor that last wish.

This isn't a memorial of her death. It's a celebration of her life.

I didn't know Linda Bowles well, yet she was one of my best friends. That's the kind of person she was.

I first came to know her when she offered her column to the Sacramento Union while I served as editor. It was rare for us then to consider any columnist who wasn't syndicated or a resident of our area. Linda was neither. But she got the job, because she was so talented.

From the start, her words reached people and touched them in a special way. It was as if she had the ability to reach out and grab people through the pages of a newspaper.

A few years later, it was my privilege to introduce her to Rick Newcombe, president of Creators Syndicate. At that time, Rick only introduced perhaps one new feature into syndication a year. It was a long shot given the fact that hundreds of features were offered to Creators every year. But she got the job, because she was so talented.

Linda Bowles never forgot my small contributions to her career. Though we seldom saw each other in person, she always stayed in touch by phone and e-mail. In 1999, we brought her column to WorldNetDaily readers. She got the job again, because she was talented.

A year ago, the love of Linda's life – her husband, Warren – died of brain cancer. Linda had given up her career as a syndicated columnist to take care of him in his final days. Yet, she was still not prepared emotionally for his departure from this earth. She never got over it.

Linda, Warren and Michelle Bowles before Warren was diagnosed with brain cancer last year.

Just about two months ago, she told me she couldn't live without him. I kept telling her that she could, just one day at a time. She was devastated by her loss and, frankly, never recovered from it.

But God has left us with a body of Linda's work – work that will live as long as WorldNetDaily and as long as there are people who discover her entertaining book, "The Remnant."

I remember Linda mostly as a confidante, a friend, a trusted colleague. But I also remember her words. Here are some words to remember her by. They are quintessentially Linda:

"It is the classic struggle between good and evil that rages within each of us. It is a struggle for dominance and control that defines who we are and what we do. On a larger scale, it defines a nation."

"We have collectively decided that we may live by self-set rules that may be changed to accommodate our changing tastes and styles. Life is an accident. The universe is mindless and indifferent. No one is in control. The concepts of guilt and sin are archaic. Translation: The forces of evil are in ascendance, and America is losing its favored nation status with Him."

"The perception grows that America has fallen from grace and lost its image as the light and hope of the world. The view is taking hold that the American people have scrapped their Constitution, abandoned their founding principles, and put themselves in the heavy hands of an elite band of liberal globalists."

"Are we slouching towards Gomorrah? Have we lowered standards not only for our leaders but for ourselves as well? My inclination to say yes is founded, not entirely, but for the most part, upon the growing influence of members of the irreligious left on our government and our culture. They are succeeding in their mission to impose their twisted views upon America's people and institutions, and to savage those who resist."

"We are in a cultural war, and at the center of it is a major offensive against Christianity. Anyone who does not believe this is in denial. It is in-your-face obvious to those who read the paper, listen to the radio, watch television, or go to the movies – and think about what messages are being delivered."

"Many Americans have begun to wonder if the 'will of the people' has much influence on what the government is doing. They sense that America is becoming a nation whose centerpiece is not the people, but the state. There is a lingering fear that the government 'of the people, by the people, and for the people' has perished from the earth, and that America has become a nation 'of the government, by the government, and for the government.'"

"But there are signs of a turning. People of faith, after a long sleep on the sidelines, are entering the political fray for the same reason former Prime Minister Thatcher gave when she said, 'I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil.'"

"The bulwarks we erected to protect us against the dark side of our natures – the church, the family, the school and the law – have been overrun by heathens who consider them unnecessary obstacles to having a good time. How did this happen? It happened because too many Americans believe human existence is without meaning or purpose. We are hapless pawns in an indifferent universe, therefore unaccountable. In essence, the fault for what we are and what we do lies not in ourselves but in the stars."

That's the Linda I know. My words are inadequate. Hers are not.

[goldstategop]

I know what its like to lose a close friend to death. We really don't know what to say when the shock of the news of their passing hits us and then we fall into depression consumed by our grief. With the passage of time, we come realize gradually its their life we should celebrate, not their passing and remember that they're never really far away, they remain near to comfort and watch over our welfare with concern and love even if all we think we hear is silence. Linda Bowles is exactly that kind of person who cared about others and loved her husband, her daughter, and life. It seems all the more fitting to commerorate a life well lived by honoring her wish that there shouldn't be a memorial of her death. Therefore lets resolve to remember the things she tried to say to us. They leap out from the page and remind us to reflect, its not how short or long we've lived our lives but the effect we've had on people around us. And we all like to think in the end we've made a genuine difference to leaving a better world behind than the one we were born into. Did Linda? Dear readers of her column, read her words and judge for yourselves for in the end Death can never really cheat us of people we've grown to know, admire, and love.

[chicagolady]

Did she kill herself?

[goldstategop]

The circumstances of her passing were sad but this is not the occasion to dwell on them. I prefer to think of the life she lived and the things she did and wrote about and the effect she had on people. That's how we should remember Linda and that's how I remember my own loss.

[YaYa123]

http://www.paradisepost.com/articles/2003/05/16/news/news1.txt

Obituary, along with picture of the lovey lady.

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[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

Yes.

[glock rocks]

oh mercy. sad ping.

[RAT Patrol]

"It is the classic struggle between good and evil that rages within each of us. It is a struggle for dominance and control that defines who we are and what we do. On a larger scale, it defines a nation."

That really says it all.

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks for the ping, the link on #4, and for the post.

Linda Bowles.
Photo courtesy of worldnetdaily.com

Rest in Peace, Linda . . .

[glock rocks]

The only thing he didn't teach me was how to live without him.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/635439/posts

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks . . .

[Seadog Bytes]

A classy Lady. I still miss her...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1566498/posts?page=22#22