Linda Karen McGill left this life in the early morning of Friday, June 4. Her sister and a dear friend were by her side. She had been riding the physical and emotional waves of cancer for several years—yielding again and again to rip tides so they wouldn’t drown her and kicking ahead of occasional swells of well-being so she could catch and ride them with exuberant joy. At the end she said no to death as long as she could, and then she said yes. Linda was born in Watts Hospital (now the North Carolina School of Science and Math) on March 13, 1953. With her dark hair and eyes, she looked like her mother, but growing up, she was Daddy’s girl: playing with him in golf tournaments, learning to drive a backhoe, and dropping a waterski to slalom or—always better still—driving the boat. When her grandfather, Sam Dennis, taught Linda to weld, he gave her a skill and a major at UNC-G: fine arts, with a concentration in metals. For a while it looked like he had also given her a ticket to penury: selling small sculptures and silver jewelry from a blanket at craft fairs would pay the rent only if she waitressed, too. Her prospects improved some when she came home to Durham in the mid-1970s and set up a jewelry design bench at Sparks-Walker, in an alley at Lakewood Shopping Center. Soon after, Linda bought the business, named it Jewelsmith, and began a series of migrations: first across from Brightleaf, then to a corner spot at the back of Erwin Square, and finally to the large space the store has occupied for more than 20 years on the Main Street side of the building. A magazine article about Linda, her attachment to Durham, and the business she built is here: https://jewelsmith.com/about. Two quotes that the article left out say volumes about who she was: “In the jewelry business, honesty and ethics are the cornerstone of the relationships among store owners and the vendors who supply the diamonds, gemstones, and precious metals that are our stock in trade. From the beginning, I’ve felt a sense of acceptance and fellowship in the community of my peers, and this has made doing business an enterprise free of the concerns of gender. I didn’t have to prove myself as a woman; I had to prove myself as a trustworthy member of an ancient guild.” “We do vibrant and flawless work, and have fun doing it. I think our customers have fun in the store, too. That’s important, because even though we make museum-quality jewelry, we aren’t a museum: we’re the shop around the corner, glad to see you when you come through the door.” Linda was caring and generous, giving her time and talents while serving on advisory boards of the Durham Arts Council and Duke University’s Nasher Museum. Her longest service was on the board of Goodwill Industries of Eastern North Carolina. Linda was a Pisces and water was her element. She loved to scuba dive and was grateful that other divers could be counted on to take pictures below so she wouldn’t have to. She loved to travel and loved any adventure that had her clambering up and over rocks. Her yoga practice centered and quieted her monkey mind, seeing her through this cancer and one before. Maybe above all, she loved golf, both for its endless challenges and for the community it gave her. Linda’s parents were Andrew Gramling McGill and Barbara Dennis McGill. For 10 years she was married to Robert Maclaren Bailey. She leaves behind her sister, Deborah Lynne McGill (Hassan Bustillo); her niece, Anna Pleasants Moyer (Abraham); and her grand-nephews James Henry and Graham Elliot Moyer. She counted as family the Jewelsmith staff (here they all are: Jewelsmith Staff) and her many devoted and loved friends. We thank Linda’s doctors and their teams—Renee Chatterjee-Montgomery, Ross Houser, Tian Zhang, Matthew Milowsky, and Gary Winzelberg—and everyone at UNC Hospice. Kamelia Samadi, of Nightingale Care Service, gave Linda her all this past month. Linda’s ashes will be buried at Maplewood Cemetery next to her parents. Jewelsmith designers Phillip Dismuke and Patrick King made the urn. Linda, on her own and through the store, supported a long list of worthy and progressive causes: Jewelsmith Donations. Instead of flowers, the family would appreciate donations in Linda’s memory and honor to any of these, or to some other charity that’s important to you.