The Free Lance had a newsroom full of likeable eccentrics in the early 2000s, but I’m guessing most of them would acknowledge that Linda Lee King was the most eccentric of the bunch in those days. Linda never stopped telling stories, in person and on paper. Usually, the topics weren’t so serious—her chickens were the main characters in a lot of them—but she had plenty of somber, ice-cold experiences to share as well.
Those more traumatic events—including her witnessing of a young child being run over by a car during her youth and later the shooting death by a police officer of her husband in their home—are some of the experiences laid out in her recently published book, “Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones.”
King now lives in Redding. She and I caught up recently about her time in Hollister and the 290-page book with a subtitle, “What a Charmed Life I Lead.”
Much of the book centers on King’s dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder following key events in her life. She was a Free Lance reporter and later published her own San Benito County newspaper, the Free Press, for nearly a year before moving out east and then back to Redding.
In our interview, she described the death of the 7-year-old girl in 1955 and did so in stark, but sad, terms.
“She saw me, and she comes running down the driveway,” King recalled. “Somehow, she falls. And this poor lady’s driving and she ran right over her skull.
“Naturally, all I remember is the little girl is looking and she fell and she’s dead.”
If that wasn’t enough, 19 years later King witnessed the death of her husband at the time, Tommy, while they had been living in the Detroit area. It was shortly after 1 a.m. one morning when police tried pulling him over but he instead continued on to their home. Once there, he ran into the home, followed by two police officers, King recalled. That led to the eventual shooting of her husband, as detailed in the book, in front of King.
“I heard the first shot,” King said in the interview. “As I’m getting up, I flash on the bedroom light. He’s running into the house. The next thing I know, the cops are there. The two officers are running in. One runs right behind him. The one in front of him with the gun—and you don’t move your eyes on the gun. He (Tommy) really was an unarmed man.”
With the book, King said she also wants to encourage people to get mental health treatment when needed, as it largely centers on her dealings with PTSD.
“I take you through certain periods of my life,” King said. “I let you grow up with me.”
“Sticks and Stones and Broken Bones”
Book Description on Amazon:
Linda Lee King grew up in 1950s America where children did not speak until spoken to and when the Catholic Church concealed many occurrences of inappropriate behavior. One moment in her young life caused trauma that would haunt her into adulthood. Now a victim of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, she struggles daily to stay afloat.
Linda has been divorced, widowed, and haunted by paranormal forces she cannot explain. She sees the world as not black and white but bleeding red with violence. That violence breeds brokenness, but it is never too late for someone to seek help. She especially worries about the future children of America and how violence will affect their lives.
The battle is not hopeless, though. Linda believes with early detection and counseling any past trauma can be treated. She has been through so much in her life as a single parent and a recovering Roman Catholic. Now, she reaches out to others who share her pain to tell a personal story of forgiveness, hope, and—in the end—healing.
Price on Amazon: $34.19 hardcover; $17.09 paperback; $3.03 on Kindle
