Linda Walter was born Ethelynde M. Stimpson on January 19, 1918, in Union County, New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Birth Index at Ancestry.com. Her marriage license had Roselle Park as the birthplace. The initial M might be her mother’s maiden name, McCotter.
The 1920 United States Census said Walter was the second of three children born to William and Ethelynde. The family were residents in New Castle, New York, at 79 Manchester Terrace. Her English father was a supervisor at a telephone company.
In the 1930 census, the Stimpson family of six lived in Cranford, New Jersey at 215 Retford Avenue.
Famous Artists & Writers (1949), profiled Walter and her husband and said
… Let’s take them one at a time. Linda was born Linda Stimpson in Cranford, N.J., where she went to school and became the Big Activity Girl. She had to turn down college scholarships in art and music on graduation, and became a business girl. Building up to private secretary to the president of an insurance agency (the Walters are the kind of people who automatically shoot to the top), she quit to go with the Butterick Pattern Co. as assistant to the company’s head designer.“In between Butterick and Saks Fifth Avenue,” the dark-haired, charming Linda says, “I met and married Jerry. He was writing advertising copy for Batten, Barton, Dustine and Osborn. I did likewise for Saks, until one day I just quit to take up cartooning seriously.”
According to the 1940 census, Walter was a secretary at a welding company. Her address was unchanged.
Six months after the census enumeration, Ethelynde M. Stimpson and Harold Frank Walter obtained a Manhattan marriage license on October 3, 1940. They married two days later.
On October 16, 1940, Walter’s husband signed his World War II draft card. His address was 731 Coleman Place in Westfield, New Jersey (his parents’ home). The address was updated, on July 1, 1941, to 332 East 47th Street in New York City.
Two 1942 issues of New Horizons mentioned her gag cartoons.
Most appropriate reference was a cartoon drawn for The Saturday Evening Post by Linda Walter, whose caption pointed up the air-mindedness of the younger generation (see cut).
Last month on page 10, New Horizons proudly displayed Linda Walter’s becoming cartoon reprinted from one of the Saturday Evening Post’s April, ’42 issues. The cartoon depicted three youthful figures, one of whom is saying to the others: “Mayflower—Phooey…our uncle came over on the Clipper!”
Here is a list of some of Walter’s cartoons in The Saturday Evening Post.
American Newspaper Comics (2012) said the couple created Susie Q. Smith which ran from 1945 to November 28, 1959. On March 4, 1946, they added Jellybean Jones which ended on January 14, 1950.
The Walters were Woodstock, New York residents and mentioned in the Kingston Daily Freeman.
July 16, 1947
Linda Walter, Woodstock, who, with her husband, Jerry Walter produces the widely-distributed cartoon series, Susie Q. Smith.
June 23, 1948, opening at the Woodstock Playhouse
The group exhibition by Woodstock’s cartoonists created much interest. Those represented in the in the lobby of the Playhouse are John H. Streibel, creator of the Dixie Dugan strip. Carl Hubbell, Jerry and Linda Walter; Jay Allan. David B. Huffine, and Edmund Good. Good formerly did Scorchy Smith, the Associated Press strip, but is now known for Breeze Lawson in the Sky Sheriff.
June 11, 1951
Expressions of appreciation were given to Mrs. Linda Walter, who has been teaching dancing and ballroom deportment at the school.
September 26, 1951
At the recent annual meeting of the Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen the following officers for the coming year were elected: ...Anita Stallforth and Linda Walter, house committee ...
December 20, 1951
Illustrators’ Exhibit Is Scheduled FridayWoodstock, Dec. 20—An Illustrators’ Exhibit will open Friday, Dec. 21, at the S S Sea Horse, with a reception from 6 to 8 p. m. Hot hors d’oeuvres will be served by C. J. McCarthy. The paintings, drawings and sketches of the following illustrators will be shown: Ethel Adams, Jay Allen, Charles W. Chambers, Heine Drucklieb, Harvey Emerich, Anton Otto Fischer, George Green, Gerald Green, Karl Hubbell. Dave Huffine, William H. MacReady, C. J. McCarthy, John McClellan, Joseph Morgan, John Pike, Pamela Ravenel, John Striebel, Dudley G. Summers, Harry Temple, Mark Von Arenberg and Jerry and Linda Walter.
August 18, 1954, benefit for the Woodstock Recreation Field
Silk Screen TagsA colorful feature of the carnival will be the silk screened admission tags, designed by 18 famous artists, autographed and available for 25 cents apiece. Each one a collector’s item, entire sets may be purchased. The artists who are now working on the tags are as follows: James Turnbull, Howard Mandel, John Pike, Edmond Good, Karl [sic] Hubbell, Anton Refregier, Linda Walter, Dave Hufflne, Ethel Magafan, Edward Chavez, Miska Petersham, Lucil Blanch, Phoebe Towbin, Marianne Appel Mecklem, Reginald Wilson, Jay Allen, Edward L. Chase and John Striebel.
The Evening News (North Tonawanda, New York), July 3, 1953, announced the addition of Susie Q. Smith to its comics page and said about the creators:
Jerry and Linda Walter are an attractive young couple who can pinch-hit for each other in turning out the feature. Jerry normally dreams up the gags and Linda does the art work, but they can switch about when the occasion demands.Married shortly before Pearl Harbor, the Walters worked for an advertising agency before Mr. Walters [sic] became a navigator for the Atlantic Transport Command. After the war, they dreamed up Susie and have had a highly popular gal on their hands ever since.
Susie Q. Smith also appeared in comic books published by Magazine Enterprises and Dell.
American Newspaper Comics said the couple produced The Lively Ones for Newsday Specials. The series ran from May 17, 1965 to February 11, 1967.
At some point the couple divorced. Her ex-husband passed away on November 7, 2007. (He had remarried to Clarice O’Hara Warner whose husband passed away in 1988.)
Walter passed away on March 28, 2009. Her last known residence was Lake Hill, Ulster County, New York, which is about fives miles/8 kilometers west of Woodstock.
The Times-Union, (Albany, New York), December 8, 2017, published the article “Woodstock Artists Cemetery good place to ponder art’s power” and said
... Look over there—the gravestone for Ethel Magafan Currie, American landscape painter. And there—actor Joseph Leon, Dr. Blackstock from “Sophie’s Choice.” And another—poet and cartoonist Linda Walter, who created “Susie Q. Smith” with her husband, Jerry. ...
She was laid to rest in July 2023.
(An earlier profile was posted in 2018.)
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