Linda Lee Peterson (née Winthrop), age 73, died on October 11, 2022, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at her home in Portland, Oregon.

A business owner, author, mentor, community leader, musician, wife, and mother, Linda was an elegant and irresistible force of nature, using her time and talents to make the world around her a better, more inclusive place.

Born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, Linda was already a superstar at the age of 10 when she became student body president of Beachy Avenue Elementary School. This began her lifelong quest to be a leader and positive force in the world.

Her academic and extracurricular success continued at San Fernando High School — class valedictorian, talent show performances, National Merit scholar recognition, and being named the “Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow.” During her high school years, Linda was also an integral member of the school’s Knowledge Bowl team that successfully competed against other Los Angeles high schools on the CBS-aired “Scholarquiz” competition.

Linda graduated with honors from Stanford University in 1971. A talented writer, she started her career in corporate communications. In 1979, Linda joined forces with her friend and colleague, Jim Dodge, to launch Peterson & Dodge, a creative services agency based in San Francisco. She would later welcome longtime collaborator and close friend, David Skolnick, and expand the agency to Peterson, Skolnick & Dodge. Serving clients in travel, health care, nonprofits, the arts, and higher education, Linda was respected as a communications leader, earning the first-ever Distinguished Communicator Award presented by the International Association of Business Communicators.

Linda’s professional talents as a brand strategist, ability to communicate in every medium, and philosophy of giving back came together when she chaired boards for several organizations, including the Contra Costa AIDS Project and Friends of the Lafayette Library, and served on boards for many others, including Pacific School of Religion and Youth Homes, Inc. She played a leading role in the fundraising effort to build the Lafayette Library and Learning Center and provided pro bono professional communications services for countless numbers of nonprofit capital campaigns.

Linda was a passionate and actively engaged Stanford alumna. She was the author of The Stanford Century and chaired Books on Review from 2008-2018, the annual fundraising event sponsored by the Stanford Women’s Club of the East Bay to provide scholarships for students. She was also a key advisor for The Stanford Challenge, which set a new standard for higher education capital campaigns with $6.2 billion raised.

A voracious reader and self-described “word nerd,” Linda dreamed of becoming a mystery writer and turning the countless stories from her imagination into novels. Her dream became a reality when she published three successful mystery novels: Edited to Death, The Devil’s Interval, and The Spy on the Tennessee Walker.

Linda was known for her tireless energy, her willingness to say yes when asked to “just help out” for a worthy cause, and her wit, humor, charm, and ability to educate and persuade any audience. Along the way, she mentored young writers, raised and nurtured her son (who followed her lead and became a strong communications consultant and writer under her guidance), traveled extensively with her family, and was unfailingly accessible and kind to her neighbors and an international legion of friends. With family and friends, Linda was an avid and wildly competitive participant in board games and team trivia competitions; she would regularly deliver the final coup de grace with a sweet but triumphant smile.

In addition, Linda inherited her mother’s talent for making things grow. Her fruit trees and vegetable and flower beds in Lafayette and Portland were both beautiful and wildly productive.

On the night Linda died, a friend wrote “The world feels like it will be reorienting itself to the physical absence of her.” Linda's legacy of making a difference in countless ways on a personal and community level lives on.

Linda is survived by her husband of 51 years, Ken Peterson, son Ben Peterson, daughter-in-law Kate Peterson, grandson Will Peterson, siblings Larry and Laurie Winthrop, brother-in-law Richard Peterson, sister-in-law Pat Winthrop, sister-in-law Cici Menchen-Peterson, and Linda’s many friends.

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