Linda Sutter

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Linda Sutter (1941–1995) was an American comics writer and journalist. She wrote the storyline for the comic strip Brenda Starr, Reporter from 1982 to 1985. A graduate of Vassar College, she was involved in television and radio journalism in the 1960s and 1970s. She produced a series for NBC Radio Network's Monitor program and worked for the WINS radio station and Channel 5 in New York City.

Early life and education[edit]

Helen Linda Sutter[1] was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1941, to Suzanne Tenney and Clifford Samuel Sutter.[2]

Sutter attended Vassar College where she was involved in the theater, appearing in productions of The Cherry Orchard[3] and Arms and the Man.[4] She graduated from Vassar in 1961.[5]

Career[edit]

Sutter began her career working for NBC as a network radio producer.[5] With NBC Radio Network's Monitor program, she produced a series on "the younger generation" and interviewed Senator Edmund Muskie in 1968.[6][7] During the 1970s, she was a television reporter for Metromedia Channel 5 in New York City and was a radio journalist with the WINS station.[5]

Brenda Starr[edit]

In 1980, Sutter was hired by Chicago's Tribune Media Services to produce the Brenda Starr, Reporter comic strip.[8] Starting in 1982, she wrote the storyline for the syndicated comic strip, taking over from the strip's creator, Dale Messick. Ramona Fradon continued to provide the artwork during Sutter's tenure.[9] She started the process of updating the Brenda Starr character to a career woman from a fantasy figure. Her initial storylines led Brenda Starr to California where she is kidnapped by Arabs after meeting a mad scientist with a revolutionary silicon chip that is hidden in a golf ball.[10] Sutter created a character lampooning ABC executive Roone Arledge. Her district attorney character "Diane Drab" was likened to then-Brooklyn DA Elizabeth Holtzman.[11] Sutter continued producing and writing for Brenda Starr until 1985, when Mary Schmich took over the storyline.[12][13]

Personal and later life[edit]

Sutter married G. Raymond Empson in 1968. They had a son, Joshua C. Empson.[14]

After she finished writing for Brenda Starr in the 1980s, Sutter studied at Harvard Divinity School, and planned to be ordained in the Episcopal Church.[15] She died of brain cancer[16] in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on December 18, 1995. She was 54.[17]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Miss Sutter wed in East to Dr. Newell Augur Jr". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. July 6, 1963. p. 16. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  2. ^ Commire, Anne, ed. (2002). "Sutter, Linda (1941–1995)". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Waterford, Connecticut: Yorkin Publications. ISBN 0-7876-4074-3. Archived from the original on January 30, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  3. ^ Giffin, Mary E. (December 7, 1960). "Experimental Theatre Stages Chekov's 'Cherry Orchard'". Vassar Miscellany News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  4. ^ Weedon, Elizabeth (December 16, 1959). "Arms And The Man: Review". Vassar Miscellany News. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Linda Sutter, Worked on Brenda Starr Comic Strip". Chicago Tribune. December 24, 1995. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  6. ^ "Sounds of NBC Monitor – 1968 Jan.-June". The Monitor Tribute Pages. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  7. ^ "Sounds of Monitor – 1968 July-Dec". The Monitor Tribute Pages. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  8. ^ "Behind the Brenda Starr comic strip". Hartford Courant. December 30, 2010. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  9. ^ Kennedy, Martha H. (2018). Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-4968-1595-8. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  10. ^ Zotti, Ed (September 22, 1983). "Nothing ever makes sense in Brenda Starr". San Diego Reader. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  11. ^ Roura, Phil; Poster, Tom (June 5, 1985). "People: Liz in the comics?". Daily News. p. 11.
  12. ^ Reynolds, Moira Davison (2015). Comic Strip Artists in American Newspapers, 1945-1980. McFarland. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-7864-8150-7. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2023.
  13. ^ Schmich, Mary (May 3, 1987). "My Life with Brenda Starr". Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on September 30, 2023. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  14. ^ "Ms. Klauber-Speiden, Mr. Empson". The New York Times. September 12, 1999. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
  15. ^ "Linda Sutter; wrote 'Brenda Starr' strip". Hartford Courant. Associated Press. December 23, 1995. p. 97.
  16. ^ "Deaths". Washington Post. December 24, 1995.
  17. ^ "Linda Sutter, 54; Wrote 'Brenda Starr'". The New York Times. December 22, 1995. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved September 9, 2023.
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