Linda Altoonian was born on February 22, 1950 to working class parents of Armenian descent who raised her in Silver Spring, a Maryland suburb just outside of Washington, D.C. The grandchild of immigrants who fled the first genocide in history perpetrated by the Turks in 1915, she walked in two distinctly different worlds--the colorful culture of her ancestors that was characterized by fierce family loyalty, delicious food and hospitality, a rich and turbulent history that throbbed to beat of lively music and dramatic dance, and the intrigue that was woven into the rags-to-riches story of her grandparents, who wielded power in the community, church and underground plots to free their homeland.
After graduation, Linda married an Armenian boy and moved to New Jersey where she began to teach English and where she earned her Master's Degree in Human Development and Communications from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She gave birth to two children, Tricia and Derek, and stayed home for 12 years to raise them and do philanthropic work in her new community in Arlington, Texas where the family had moved in the 1984 to further her husband's career. During that time, she was a Girl Scout leader who guided her son to Eagle Scout and her daughter to Gold scout. She also worked for the neighborhood watch and with the city on park installations.
She returned to the workforce as the Editor-in-Chief of 10 various, national magazines including the only official and family authorized collector's editions for baseball great Mickey Mantle and songstress Selena. For her work on the Mantle magazine, she received a Service Award from President Bill Clinton for her contributions to the issue of Organ Donation. She also earned numerous Editor's Choice awards for her writing and editing.
In addition to her work in magazine production and book editing, she returned to education in 1997, when she taught journalism, writing, editing, marketing/advertising, photography and publication production for which she won yearly awards from the Interscholastic Press League, the Columbia University Press Association and from Time Magazine which selected her publication The Best in the Nation. For her work in the classroom, she was twice selected the State Journalism Teacher of the Year by the Press Women of Texas in 2005 and by the Interscholastic Press League in 2011. After 20 years of teaching, she retired in 2012. Altoonian was also awarded the Albert Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.
After her own accomplished children completed their educations and were launched, her daughter a physical therapist and her son the branch manager of a mortgage/loan firm, Altoonian cared for her ill parents, who moved to Texas in 2000 and were the inspiration for her syndicated column called Dear Ageless, an award winning, write-in column about aging in America, which ran every Sunday in the Fort Worth Star-telegram and various newspapers around the country.
She finally retired the column after six years and invested her energy into writing her first book called Living Agelessly: Creating a Lifestyle for Mid-Life and Beyond for Diamedica Press, a New York City publisher. Her second book, Kitchen Stories Cookbook; Comfort Cookin' Made Fascinating and Easy, was published by Epicenter Press in 2016.
Her newest book is a children's book called "Gossip Goose Mends Fences" about the terrible impact of bullying and gossiping among students which she saw first-hand during her twenty years in the classroom. The precious book teaches children about Friendship, Faithfulness and Forgiveness. Visit Amazon and Kindle Store to place an order.
Altoonian has traveled extensively - to 45 states throughout the America she loves and to over 50 countries throughout the world, but she has resided for over 40 years in Texas where she is a consultant to publishing companies and advertising agencies, and she lectures, writes and edits for various venues. She also volunteers for a free clinic and for her church as a teacher and in the Church Pantry.
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Based on 10 reviews
I love this book! I am an elementary school teacher and often, in the books I read to my students, there is a problem described but not the solution or steps to resolve it. This book will foster so many important discussions about bullying, true regret and the way to fix even the most awful relationship mistakes. This is a must have for your child’s library!
Chris North
Reader
What an awesome book for my grandkids! The book is unique because it not only teaches the valuable lesson about how gossip can hurt but also about how to make up for harming a friendship… to confess, apologize and forgive. My grandkids love the story and the illustrations. This book is a keeper through the generations!
Debbie Todd
Reader
Such an adorable children’s book with a wonderful message and lovely illustrations. I love to read it to my son who adores the characters and gets engaged in the action. It’s a great teaching tool for so many important lessons.
