Linda Goodman

Goodman never revealed her year of birth, swearing even her father to silence.
She was born Mary Alice Kemery, by some accounts in her parent's hometown of Parkersburg, West Virginia and by her own account in her maternal grandparents' house on Kingwood Street in Morgantown, West Virginia
She was born in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, where she learned the art of storytelling from her father, a former coal miner who was himself a master yarnspinner. She began writing her own stories while she was in elementary school and was a prolific writer all her life.
She assumed the name Linda for a popular WCOM radio show in Parkersburg that she hosted called Love Letters from Linda. Each show consisted of Linda reading letters written between soldiers and their loved ones. Each letter was punctuated with a popular song of the day. While working in radio, she met her second husband, Sam O. Goodman and took his last name.

Linda Goodman began her career writing for newspapers in the eastern and southeastern United States. She also wrote speeches for black American civil rights leader Whitney Young, who served for several years as president of the National Urban League.

Gooberz begun in 1967, is one long epic poem riddled with a myriad of occult references and symbolism. It is also a thinly veiled autobiography, which explores two of her significant romantic relationships, her marriage to William Snyder, and her love affair with marine biologist Robert Brewer. It also touches on the birth of her four children Sally Snyder, Bill Snyder, Jill Goodman and Michael Goodman. The book surveys her ideas on reincarnation, karma, love, and miracles.

Goodman's books also reference what she referred to as the "disappearance" of her eldest daughter, Sally Snyder, and the mystery around her reported death. Linda Goodman spent much money and many years trying to find Sally, long after police closed the case as a suicide or accidental suicide.

Some have suggested that Linda Goodman was responsible for accelerating the growth of the New Age movement through the unprecedented success of her first astrology book Linda Goodman's Sun Signs (1968). This was the first astrology book ever to earn a spot on the New York Times Bestseller List. It was followed by yet another success with Linda Goodman's Love Signs (1978), which also made the New York Times Bestseller List.



Other books by Linda Goodman include:

Venus Trines at Midnight (1970)
Linda Goodman’s Love Poems (1980)
Linda Goodman’s Star Signs: the secret codes of the universe (1987)
Gooberz (1989)
Linda Goodman’s Relationship Signs (1998)

Thanks Rani, very informative post!

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In November 1988, while she was living in Enfield, Connecticut, she rediscovered the "oral tradition" while attending the first annual Tellabration. She has been entertaining audiences throughout the country with her original stories, traditional tales, and monologues ever since. She has appeared and taught workshops at the National Storytelling Conference, the Connecticut Storytelling Festival, the Storytelling Institute at Southern Connecticut State University, the Three Apples Festival in Harvard, Massachusetts, the Jonnycake Festival in Peacedale, Rhode Island, The New England Modern Storytelling Festival in Portland, Maine, the Corn Island Storytelling Festival in Kentucky, Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia, and Storyfest in Richmond, Virginia. Her works are known for their "Southern Appalachian" flavor, and her tape, Jessie and Other Stories, has been aired on The Story Tree, a Tennessee-based storytelling program heard on National Public Radio. The tape also received a glowing review in the August 1993 issue of the national newsletter, The Yarnspinner.

"I was born into a culture that is fading away. I feel an obligation to keep that culture alive in my stories," she enthuses. "I also feel an obligation to people my stories with Southern Appalachian characters of intelligence and integrity. This country has a stereotype of a Southerner who is slow and unintelligent. My stories seek to dispel that stereotype."

Linda was a member of the National Storytelling Association (NSA) and the Virginia Storytellers Alliance. She was also a past Program Coordinator of Boston's Sharing the Fire, the largest and oldest regional storytelling conference in the country, and has served on the board of the Three Apples Storytelling Festival. She became a member of the Dramatists' Guild in 1992, after her one act play, Empty Wells, was named a finalist in a national competition. Her stories have appeared in Storytelling World, a magazine published by Eastern Tennessee State University, Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul, Stories for the Family Heart, The Appalachian Quarterly, and in the Storytelling Youth Olympics 1997 Guidebook . Her monologue collection, Daughters of the Appalachians, was released by Overmountain Press in December 1999.

Linda made Cripple Creek, Colorado her home during the latter part of her adult life.
Linda lived in New England from August, 1985 to August, 1995. While there, she was approved by the Massachusetts Cultural Council for inclusion on their PASS, Event and Residency, and Touring Rosters.
She was a certified lay speaker in the United Methodist Church, the 1995 recipient of the Excellence in Storytelling Award presented by the Storytelling Institute at Southern Connecticut State University, and a 1998 recipient of a Storytelling World Honor Award. She was a charter member of the Barter Storytellers of Abingdon, Virginia, the country's first professional storytelling troupe associated with a professional theater.


A businesswoman from Ireland named Crystal Bush befriended Linda at the end of her life and obtained the publicity rights to Linda Goodman's name at her death. Crystal Bush published the book "Linda Goodman's Relationship Signs" after Linda's death.

It is said that Linda Goodman died on October 21, 1995, in Colorado from complications of diabetes. She was 70. Despite reports of her death, some of her followers maintain that she is still alive, living anonymously in rural New Zealand.