Harry B. Reid and Linda Loveland Reid originally met on the dance floor at the Flamingo Hotel.
“It was quite straightforward,” Harry says. “I spotted her across the room, walked over, and asked her to dance.”
That was 38 years ago.
The pair have been together ever since.
Their Penngrove home has been nicknamed Canon Manor. Reid designed the 3,000-square-foot ranch-style home and gardens.
“We love living here,” says Linda. “Things constantly change. When we arrived, the streets were unpaved, each custom home had a well and septic tank and there were no fire hydrants or streetlights. Now we’re hooked up to city services.”
The Reid’s proximity to Sonoma State University proved convenient when the couple decided to pursue mid-life career changes.
“Both Linda and I were mature newcomers to the campus,” says Harry. “She was enrolling for her BA in Art History, and I was creating an MA in Anthropology and Languages.”
As Linda explains it, the couple’s backgrounds are quite different.
“I was born in Hollywood,” she says, “and grew up as a prune picker in Healdsburg, where I got married, had three children and discovered volunteering was in my DNA.”
Linda also discovered her organizational skills, a talent which led to her becoming Associate Executive Director for United Way.
“1980 turned out to be a year of changes,” she says. “Not only did I dance with Harry, but United Way offered me a position in the national organization. After a good bit of soul-searching, I quit, and entered the insurance business.”
In contrast, Harry was born in Bristol, Connecticut - he uses the word “hatched” to describe his origins - growing up in what he calls a normal, middle class neighborhood.
“On one side of us was a man with delirium tremens,” Harry describes. “On the other side lived a lady who carried a carving knife around with her wherever she went.” After a brief stint in the Navy, Harry became an apprentice to world-famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. “An incoming apprentice,” Harry explains, “experienced not architectural drafting, but the building of stone walls and walkways, making repairs, painting and bringing in Taliesin-grown harvests.”
After acquiring his Civil Engineering degree from MIT and becoming an architect, Harry eventually relocated to Northern California.
“I became a native Californian the split second I caught sight of a sunlit San Francisco in 1953,” he says.
As a locally-based architect, Harry got the job of reconfiguring a former church campus into what is now The Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center. He also designed the home and orchid gardens for actor Raymond Burr (TV’s Perry Mason) and his life-partner Robert Benevides.
Among the many mutual pursuits the Reid’s enjoy are writing books, painting, and writing, producing and directing plays.
“I like to share things I discover, and she comes right along,” Harry says. “I am constantly impressed that (Linda) can do as many things as she can so well. I bought her first box of water colors, and she quickly became an accomplished painter, exhibiting in galleries.”
After watching Harry’s first couple of plays, Linda announced, “I think I’d like to direct a play!”
She’s been directing for over 30 years now, including helming productions of Susan Miller’s “My Left Breast,” and Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” and “The Merchant of Venice.”
“One of my favorites was directing an all-female version of Neil Simon’s “The Odd Couple” at 6th Street Playhouse,” she says.
At 75, Linda remarks that she is still building her resume, teaching Art History courses through SSU’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. She will soon be giving Art History seminars at Dominican University in San Rafael. Linda sums up her years with Harry in seven words.
“Our life,” she says, “has been a wonderful dance.”
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