Milan Sharma
Linda McCartney, a photographer, activist, rockstar at heart, and the mother of singer-songwriter Rob, held many important roles in her life. Surprisingly, marrying a Beatle turned out to be one of her more ordinary achievements. Unlike many stories of the rich and famous that begin with a challenging childhood filled with struggles and uncertainty, Linda’s upbringing was far from tragic.
Her father, Bronx-born Leopold Epstein, was the son of poor immigrants who had come to America seeking a better life. His success ensured that Linda grew up in comfort. Her mother, Louise, came from an already well-to-do background. In Howard Sounes’ book, *Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney*, Linda’s upbringing is described as privileged. Her family owned a beach house in East Hampton, a retreat from their homes in Westchester and on Park Avenue. Linda even had a song written about her, which was later re-recorded by Jan and Dean. Her siblings married into families tracing their lineage to the Founding Fathers. If Linda faced any hardship in her childhood, it was in her relationship with her father, who ridiculed her for showing more interest in animals than academics. By the time she was a teenager, she found solace in rock music.
Linda Eastman was born in 1941, and like many women of her era, she married young. She dated Princeton-educated geologist Joseph Melville See Jr., who was rumored to have inspired the character JoJo in The Beatles’ song “Get Back.” Whether or not that’s true, he did move to Arizona for graduate school, and Linda followed. According to Sounes, Arizona remained one of her favorite places throughout her life. While she studied art history there, she was more captivated by the state’s forest culture. During her time in the Southwest, Linda faced a tragic loss when her mother died in a plane crash. After briefly returning to support her devastated family, she escaped back to Arizona, reflecting later that she was immature and sought escape from reality. She married the boyfriend she had followed across the country, and they had a daughter named Heather. Though Linda loved her daughter dearly, those close to her noted that she felt unfulfilled in her domestic life. When her husband accepted a job opportunity in Africa, Linda returned to New York, beginning life anew as a single mother.
Linda’s time in Arizona was significant beyond her first marriage and the birth of her child—it was also where she discovered photography. A friend convinced her to take a photography class, which sparked her lifelong passion. She took her first photos on a borrowed camera with black-and-white film, and her instructor was impressed. She never looked back. As Danny Fields notes in his biography *Linda McCartney*, she was particularly driven in the weeks and months after returning to New York, immersing herself in photography and studying the work of famous American photographers like Dorothea Lange.
Linda quickly fell in love with New York’s art scene. Fields recalls visiting her in the 1980s and being amazed at how intimately she knew the city’s galleries. According to Howard Sounes, Linda was working at *Town and Country* magazine when she received an invitation to join the Rolling Stones on a Hudson River cruise. Though Danny Fields disputes her claim of being the only photographer on the trip, her photos from that day were unique and sensual, capturing the essence of the band. Mick Jagger even asked her out, leading to a brief fling. Linda later credited that week as a turning point in her life, marking her independence.
For a brief time, Linda became known by her married name, Linda See. However, this moniker was quickly abandoned when people mistook “See” as a corny photography pun, so she reverted to Eastman. To see the 1960s through the lens of Linda Eastman was to witness a transformative era. Her work, later exhibited at the University of Arizona’s Center for Creative Photography, featured iconic images of The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, and many other major musicians. Her natural use of light and ability to make even the most reluctant stars comfortable made her a standout photographer. She became the first female photographer to land a cover of *Rolling Stone*, with a photo of Eric Clapton. Despite her success, Linda often missed significant events due to financial constraints, recalling that she did everything on her own without an agent or assistant.
Linda’s relationship with Paul McCartney unfolded over several years, starting with their first meeting in a Soho club called the Bag O’ Nails while she was working on the book *Rock and Other Four-Letter Words*. According to Fields, their first meeting was somewhat accidental, but they hit it off immediately. Though they wouldn’t see each other for over a year after that initial encounter, Linda was already smitten, telling friends that she was in love with Paul.
By 1968, Paul was in an unhappy relationship with actress Jane Asher. During a trip to New York City, Paul reconnected with Linda, though they did not immediately start dating exclusively. However, when he invited her to London, their relationship quickly became serious. She was pregnant by December, and Paul asked her father for permission to marry her. They were engaged around Christmas and married on March 12, 1969. The wedding attracted crowds of heartbroken Beatles fans, despite there being no official announcement.
Linda, along with Yoko Ono, was often blamed for The Beatles’ breakup. She later recounted to Danny Fields the threats and physical attacks she faced from Beatles fans. Her marriage to Paul meant a life under constant scrutiny, and her shyness in public was often misinterpreted as aloofness. Yet, with Paul by her side, she endured the media’s relentless attention.
When Paul began making music with Wings, critics accused Linda of orchestrating her involvement, but she refuted these claims, telling the *San Diego Union-Tribune* that she had to be persuaded into it and found it challenging. Nonetheless, she joined the band to be close to Paul, not out of ambition.
Their time spent at a farm in Scotland was life-changing, providing inspiration for their music and their decision to become vegetarians. Linda went on to write vegetarian cookbooks and founded Linda McCartney Foods, facing public skepticism that she pressured Paul into the lifestyle. However, both Paul and their daughter Mary have defended the decision as a mutual choice.
In 1995, Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer, and by March 1998, the cancer had spread. She passed away the following month, just two days after going horseback riding for the last time. She was 56 years old. Paul, who had lost his mother to breast cancer when he was 14, was devastated, saying he cried for about a year. Since her passing, Linda’s family has continued her legacy. Paul remains committed to vegetarianism and animal rights, while their daughter Stella has created a vegan skincare line inspired by her mother’s activism. Their other daughter, Mary, has followed in Linda’s footsteps as a photographer and is active in cancer-related charity work.
Bibek Acharya
