Linda Doughty was born in 1960 in Bellingham, Washington, though she learned to read in Loveland, Colorado. The remainder of her school years were spent in a tiny oil camp, now incorporated as an even tinier town, called Midwest, Wyoming. She spent her early years drawing, reading about, and begging for a horse. On her 15th birthday, her parents gave her a card that said, “Now that you are old enough to drive, you are old enough to buy your goat, sheep, or pig and their feed.” She immediately assumed that this meant she could have a horse and soon thereafter purchased her first horse, Velvet, with money she had earned from babysitting, and from cleaning a filthy chicken coop. Linda ended up with an unexpected “Bonus” on April 9, 1976, Velvet’s chestnut colt. Velvet was four, Linda was 16. There were mishaps and misadventures, but in spite of a concussion and a broken collarbone, Linda kept up with her riding and her flute playing. During her senior year of high school, she was selected as a member of the McDonald’s All-American High School Band, representing Wyoming. Never a big fan of the franchise, Linda, nevertheless, credits this opportunity with leading her to consider music as a career.
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Linda holds a bachelor’s degree from The University of Wyoming and a master’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University, both in flute performance. Her professional career began in Pittsburgh but blossomed when she moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she served as principal flutist of the Arizona Opera Company. She has performed with most of the local musical organizations in Tucson, including the Tucson Symphony, for over thirty years. Linda has performed throughout the US, Mexico, and China. She is also a skilled performer of Native American flute.
With the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, performing groups shut down. Linda was semi-retired, but looking forward to a few more engagements with the Tucson Symphony. When the symphony postponed their season, she decided to fully retire.
Ride
There was no time or money for horses while Linda pursued her flute playing career. However, a friend offered her horse, Junior, for lease in 2013 and Linda took her up on it. The next year, another friend gave Linda a horse, the beautiful and wise Rocky Mountain Horse mare, unimaginatively named “Rocky”. Linda and Rocky shared miles of trails together until sadly, Rocky was euthanized in 2021 at the age of 23. Linda had purchased a lovely chestnut Arabian, Sweet Al, from another friend in 2018, with the plan of learning dressage riding. Unfortunately, Al has a degenerative muscle condition and he has been retired. He now lives happily on expansive pasture land in Amado, Arizona. As Linda’s time in the saddle became less and less frequent, she noticed the constant sacroiliac pain that woke her up most nights lessened. She is now free of that pain, and the happy owner of a non-ridden equine.
Write
The first book Linda wrote and illustrated was entitled The Pig is on the Roof. She wrote this book in kindergarten and has loved writing ever since. Less flute playing and horseback riding has allowed time for more writing. Beyond her wildest dreams, she became a published author with the inclusion of three of her poems in the anthology What She Wrote. She is grateful to Birch Bark Editing and Lilith House Press for the realization of this dream.
Linda resides in Tucson, Arizona, with her husband, two noisy Siamese-ish cats, a jackhuahua, and a Mexican Street Dog.
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
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