Obituary of Linda Bognar Cargill

Linda Cargill, age 63, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Friday, February 8, after a short illness.  Above all, Linda was a prolific writer of novels, with over half a million books in print in the U.S., Britain, Italy, and Germany.  Her young adult novel, The Surfer, published by Scholastic USA, was described by School Library Journal as a “taut and evocative story” whose readers “become immersed in the challenge between good and evil.” The Sunday Independent in Dublin said of the The Dark, published by Scholastic UK: “Teens rarely need an excuse to stay up late, but The Dark by Linda Cargill . . . would give pause for thought to even the most steely-nerved youngster. A genuinely gripping horror story.”  Linda also wrote a number of original YA horror and thriller novels for the German publisher, Cora Verlag, now a division of Harlequin.  Linda also authored the award-winning To Follow the Goddess (Cheops Books), a novel about the Trojan War from Helen's point of view, which Kirkus Reviews praised as a “spirited page-turner” and “a delightful read.” Goddess placed in the National Writers' Contest. While attending Bethel Park High School in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, Linda won an honorable mention in the Atlantic Monthly Short Story Contest for Young Writers.  After two years at Bryn Mawr College, Linda graduated from Duke University with a degree in English. She also received graduate degrees in English and English Education from Duke and the University of Virginia. Linda was a very special, creative, and imaginative person, a true free spirit. She is survived by her mother, Alice, her sister, Karen, her brother, Wayne, her son, Kenneth, and her husband, Gary.  She is also survived by her very affectionate Abyssinian cat, Putlitz, who wonders, like the rest of us, where she has gone.