Linda McGee

Fan
Name:	Linda McGee
Alias(es):	Linda Cabrillo
Type:	fan writer, fanzine publisher
Fandoms:	Starsky & Hutch, Pirates of the Caribbean, Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Communities:
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URL:
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Linda McGee was a Starsky & Hutch fan writer and fanzine publisher.

McGee founded the S&H Lending Library and published a number of Starsky & Hutch zines under Idiot Triplets Press.

In 2009, McGee said: "I choose to take the position that you're only as old as you act. Though I've been in fandom since 1984, I'm about twenty-five in my mind."

She passed away in January 2023.

Interview

• Media Fandom Oral History Project Interview with Linda McGee (2017)

Zines

Zines that she has edited or contributed to:

Back to Back | BAAD SH Theatre | Blue Eyes and Blue Jeans | Cross the Line | Dreamers | Dyad | Half You, Half Me | Hutch and Me Get It On a Whole Lot | In Your Eyes | Lifeline | The Lucky and the Strong | Memories | Nightlight | Risk | Shadowplay | SHarecon | Still the One | ...Turned to Fire | Wanna Share? | We Have Each Other | When Lightning Strikes

Award Winner

• 1989 Huggy Award: Lifewatch in Lifeline

Con Game Winner

• "I was rotten at SHarades. I am *not* Linda McGee — more's the pity. <g>."
• "Congratulations to Linda McGee, Trivia Contest winner — S&H prevailed again!"

Her Beginnings in Fandom

From a 2017 interview:

So I'm going through the dealers room looking at comic books and things that held no interest for me. And, I finally found one man who had a small box of used zines by his table, and I was looking through them and then with no information to go on trying to decide which...I could afford, and which to pick. And in that box was a zine called “Half You, Half Me", which was half Star Trek and half Starsky and Hutch. And I thought 'Oh, Starsky and Hutch, I used to like that show, so I bought that zine and one other Star Trek zine and took it home and started reading and was really excited about it. And noticed that the editor of the zine Lucy, lived in Columbus, GA, which I now know was about 2 hours from where I live and I thought about writing her but I didn't have the nerve. I was afraid that she would think: "how dare you write me"...whatever.

[...]

It probably would have ended there, except the zine was missing a page, and it was the last story in the zine, and the premise was basically Starsky & Hutch have gone to NY to visit Starsky's family, and all the relatives and friends are over there to see, none of whom Hutch knows, to see Starsky. After a while, Hutch just kind of wants to get out, so he's going to go out jogging, and Starsky's mother sends Nick, who is a shifty character who is Starsky's brother (that we met in an episode), with Hutch, and at the bottom of one page, Hutch and Nick are standing together on the corner and at the top of the next page, Nick is back at the apartment telling everybody that Hutch is dead.

What?! Wait! So, I'm thumbing through the zine in both directions and that page did not magically appear. So finally, I screwed up my courage and wrote Lucy this timid little note: "I got your zine, and I'm really enjoying it, but oh, my copy is missing a page." And she just wrote back the nicest letter, sent a copy of the missing page, and said: "Well how far is Carrollton from Columbus? Would you like to come down and visit?" And, I had no exposure to the kind of open friendliness that you encounter in fandom. So--

We talked on the telephone and I said: "You know, yes I would like to but my husband is going to be out of town that weekend. Let me see if I can get somebody to take care of the dog." And she said, "Oh, just bring the dog along." So, I brought the dog--so, now I'm explaining to my husband how on Labor Day weekend, while he's gone, I'm going to be driving to Columbus, GA, to spend the weekend with a woman I've never met...he wasn't quite sure how to take that, which, of course, this is the way it is in fandom. But, yeah. [chuckling]. Neither of us really knew that. And I went and met Lucy, who is just a lovely person. And had a wonderful time. And she sent me home with one of those double sized laundry baskets full of Starsky and Hutch and Star Trek zines, just on loan. So, that's how I discovered fandom.

Focused on the Positive, Was a Mentor

October 2, 2010:

I was VERY active in Starsky and Hutch for many years. Though I'm not so industrious now, I still love the guys. (I'm going to SHareCon, a dedicated SH convention, this weekend in Maryland.) I think you're right that the characters in both SH and Pros encourage interest in fans, who tend to be strongly drawn to Relationship.

IMO there are several components necessary to keep a fandom going over the years. First, you need at least a few really committed individuals who are willing to take the initiative to pimp the fandom. This includes making sure there are panels and perhaps a party at cons like Media West. I can't tell you how many hundreds of hours of episodes I've duped for newbies during the years when the show wasn't being aired anywhere. We put out flyers at cons, which we encouraged others to circulate, titled "Yes, Virginia, there IS a fandom for Starsky and Hutch," which listed five contact people for anyone who was interested in learning more to communicate with. Back in pre-Internet days, we had a letterzine, with someone willing to take over as editor when another one moved on. Now we have several lists.

You also need good fiction, 'cos fans must be fed. <g> While SH has a great online presence now, it was a zine fandom for years, as was Pros. (In the Pros, Karen B. ran a Lending Library of circuit stories, which is how many readers were introduced to the fandom, without ever having seen the series. In SH we started a similar Lending Library for out of print zines.) We were and are fortunate to have excellent writers, and zines are still being published.

As fandom ages, you need a "next generation" to carry on, which means you (generic "you") need to be welcoming and nurturing to new fans.

[...]

I can just say that, based on my experience, it takes a few someones who are emotionally invested enough to accept responsibility and to put in the work to keep the fandom going.

In 2011, McGee wrote:

I've edited about a dozen zines, plus several stories for friends in other fandoms, and have had good responses from the editees.

IMO, one of the key ingredients to successful editing -- in addition to knowing what you're talking about -- is to make certain to tell the writer what you LIKE, as opposed to just what needs to be fixed. Whether it's "beautiful imagery," or "I can just hear so-and-so saying this," or "original idea!" or even "LOL" or "8-)" or "Yeah!", the author should hear what WORKS in her fic. I was fortunate to have a very good first editor (thank you, Martha) who told me that basically I needed to rewrite the first 50 pages of my novella (ack!), but balanced that with enough positive feedback that I was motivated to put in the work -- and the story was far, far stronger for her input.

If all you tell your writer is what's wrong, it's like getting back a paper from school dripping red ink. - Linda

Views on Labels and Warnings

I can't believe I'm sticking my toe into these waters, but I don't see "the moral high ground" as being any part of this issue. "Labels" and "warnings" may *sometimes* function in the same way, *but not always,* which is the main point of my post. A label tells what something is, and that can include the type of story: pairing, AU, death, male pregnancy, domestic discipline, partner rape, etc. A label provides information. Is it a warning? It depends. I might read a label on a Sentinel story that says the pairing is Simon/Blair. For me, that's a warning. I'm willing to believe that there are people who have time to read everything they want; I'm not one of them, and I would prefer to spend the time I have for reading Sentinel with Jim and Blair, not Blair and Simon. For someone else, the label is an invitation: "Oh, hallelujah! I *love* Simon and Blair! I can't wait to read this story!"

For the record, I'm not interested in "convincing" anyone of anything, including persuading writers to use labels/warnings. It seems clear that some writers are strongly opposed to labeling their stories, while others don't mind at all. No problem with me! Some readers want the labels/warnings; others deliberately avoid them because they consider *any* label as a "spoiler." Hey, whatever. To each her own.

Why might readers want the "convenience" of labels/warnings? Before the Internet came along and provided those of us who read in several fandoms with a selection of thousands of stories to choose from, the issue wasn't as important. But if I'm only going to be able to read a tenth (at the most!) of what's available to me, I want to spend my time reading stories that best meet my needs as far as content. If taken to extremes, the "a 'mature' reader will read anything and everything without needing to know anything about its content beforehand" philosophy could mean we'd slog through pairings we care nothing about, hetero love stories, Mary Sues, bestiality, (insert your least-favorite squick), or even fiction which isn't fannish at all.

I don't think writers (or readers) ought to have to apologize for *not* wanting to provide/receive any advance information about what they've written or what they're going to be reading. And I don't think readers (or writers) ought to have to apologize for wanting to spend the time in their life set aside for reading on those topics they prefer. Neither camp, IMO, has the "the moral high ground."

Yours for peaceful coexistence, Linda

Fan Comments

[1994]:

I did want to say that I did have an editor do something that I thought was an extremely nice touch--and it certainly took a little thought on her part. I had two poems printed in the S/H zine, THE LUCKY AND THE STRONG. I was very surprised--pleasantly so--when I got another package from Linda McGee (the ed.) about six months later. It contained a sort of mini-zine: She had taken the LOCs she received, photocopied them, spiral bound them, and printed up a cover that matched the zine itself except that it also said "Letters of Comment" and at the bottom had my own name, all printed up in the same script.

I've NEVER had an ed. do that for me, and while I don't expect that to happen with anyone else (or feel like demanding all eds do this), I thought that this was a very nice, unusual touch that really made me feel good. 

[1995]: I want to acknowledge and thank the two ladies who are responsible for saving my sanity if not my life, and making it possible for me to become involved with a fandom I'd always longed to join. The tapes arriving in my mailbox came from Tabby Davis in England, where the video format is so similar to the format we use in Australia (PAL Secam/PAL Dor), that tapes are compatible; and Tabby was sending these tapes to a then-stranger, because Linda McGee, knowing how much I loved S&H while being totally isolated from the show, had arranged for me to receive them. 'Joy' isn't a powerful enough word to describe what happened next. 'Bliss' comes close. Ever fallen in love for a second time? Linda and Tabby, or Tabby and Linda: thank you!! Those words are woefully inadequate, but what else can I say?

[2002] [Lifewatch, a story in Back to Back and Lifeline] is a story that I've recommended to friends for years. One I re-read often for its care and feeling for the characters. A beautifully constructed story. I remember sitting in a hotel room with Linda in 1983 when she'd just completed her very first S&H story (Risk). She let me read the draft that weekend and I knew then that she was going to become a treasure to S&H fandom. I owe her a hug the next time I see her. LOL.

[2007]: Many years ago, I wrote a fanfic called “Velveteen Hutch,” which I talked about in this post, and which you can read on Flamingo’s archive. The story was, so they tell me, well-received, and the original publisher of that fanfic, Linda Cabrillo, wanted a companion piece even before the ink was dry on the first piece. That was some 15 years ago, and since then, I’ve had it in the back of my head that I would oblige her, which I have now done with a fanfic called “Corduroy Starsky,”...

In Memorial

Oh, my heart is broken to hear this news [of Linda's passing]. Linda was my original pimp for S&H.

TL:DR -- I met her via snail mail in 1993 when I bought my first fanzine (Quantum Leap). It arrived with a flyer that had five addresses on it for a show called Starsky and Hutch. I was shocked that others remembered this show, so I immediately wrote all five people. While all five wrote back, it was Linda who took me under her wing after I described in detail the episode of Coffin For Starsky (not having seen the episode since its original airing). She was struck by the fact that I remembered and told me she would be happy to send me VHS copies of all the eps. I was floored by her generosity and spent the next several days binging the show I once loved so much.

This led to her asking if I could help her with making copies for the newly started Lending Library. I, of course, jumped at the chance (not only to help out to but to read all these wonderful stories that people have been writing over the years). There was one stipulation, however. I didn't want to copy any slash zines, because that was something I couldn't understand (nor did I want to).

Several months later, she told me they were finished with copying the gen zines and she really needed help with the slash ones, and would I just do a few. Well, I got the first one, started making copies, and saw a piece of art that intrigued me enough that I read the story, which slid me into the slippery and wonderful slope of slash. I never looked back. I told anyone who would listen at every ZCon that she was my pimp and I loved her dearly for it. She even got me to write my first story for one of her zines. It sucked, but she was so kind about it.

I will miss her so much.

She was always Linda McGee 

I met Linda McGee in 1989 at a small [[1]] near Baltimore, Maryland. Initially, I was delighted to meet a fan whose Southern accent was thicker than my own. But Linda quickly proved that she was the very heart of Southern hospitality, taking a newbie under her wing, explaining the games to me (which anyone will tell you I am always keen--some would say too keen--to play), and letting me know how different kinds of panels worked. Linda was always pro-audience participation, not so wild about "experts" opining away when it came to panels, and she always encouraged new people to speak up and share, which is the ethos at the very heart of SHareCon. It wasn't long before Linda was graciously editing my fiction, poor young thing that it was, and much like my college German instructor, she would eventually have to verbally "spank" me to expung some difficult-for-me to comprehend point about point-of-view or a hillbilly grammatical error. She was stern, not from a sense of superiority, but because she cared about me and didn't want me to embarrass myself in writing, because she knew the day would come when I would write better--much better, thanks to her--and she didn't want me to look back at these early efforts askance and wonder why Linda didn't save me from myself. 

Did I mention Linda McGee was generous? She always encouraged my struggling artistic efforts as well, even though I was NVG (not very good). She understood everyone had a fannish journey, and like Campbell's hero's journey, she was determined to be a guide and a helper. I continue to draw to this day, even though I never achieved notoriety for my fan art, and that was okay. Linda was kind and supportive and gave me the space to find my other talent, which happened to be comedy! I appeared in many fannish plays over the years, and I would always see her shining face (surrounded by her signature wavy black locks) belly laughing with the rest of the audience.

Linda McGee was generous not only with her time but with her money. I was newly married and fresh out of school, living in a group house to lower expenses. In short, I was broke. I was desperate for fannish company, and Linda offered to fly me to Georgia to visit with her for a week! What a treat! Did I mention she was Southern to the bottom of her lil' pea-picking toes? Linda kept a fannish guest room, complete with fannish art, for the comfort of her fan friends. You were welcome to read or rest on your own schedule, sure in the knowledge that when you entered her lovely sun room, there would be slash talk, song videos, and episodes awaiting your pleasure. Linda wasn't much of a cook, but she could make a trip to the El Burro Rojo (The Red Donkey), seem like we were extras in a Starsky and Hutch episode. As we ordered our food, it seemed like our boys could enter at any minute and give us a thrill. Talk about favorite stories and episodes kept dinners lively, as did long "what-if" conversations--"What if the boys moved in together? What would that look like?" Needless to say, my week passed in the blink of an eye. Linda McGee graciously hosted me several times, and I made sure to always help her where I could. For example, she was a kindergarten teacher her entire career, and I was trusted with helping her thin out her vast pedagogical collection one summer when she wanted to rearrange her classroom. Whew! That was some hard work (and a couple of grinding edges of drama), but we survived the experience and got the job done. 

Linda McGee introduced me to everyone she knew, which seemed like everybody at the time. I am still friends (sisters of choice, really) with some of these gals 30+ years on. That's a gift beyond price, my friends, the gift of good introductions to even better people. Thank you, Linda McGee.

Ever since I'd first heard Janis Joplin's song "Me and My Bobby McGee," I'd wanted a McGee in my life. From the first moment I met her, until our last goodbye, she was always Linda McGee, rarely just Linda. She was a woman of strongly held beliefs, and no one can ever say she wasn't loyal to her personal philosophy. And while it could be frustrating when she embraced views that could limit her (such as never letting any doctor weigh her for the past 40 years or telling the physical therapist not to bother blackening her door because she had no interest in doing his exercises), she lived and she died Linda McGee. Your passing leaves a large hole in Fandom, darlin', as well as in the hearts of many. 

Goodbye, Linda McGee. You are missed. But in the words of the Moody Blues, "I know you're out there somewhere."

Linda and I met up for several years to travel to SHarecon together. I remember one year sitting in the airport, waiting for her. And waiting. Finally the flight is called to board. No Linda. We had cell phones but they weren't as great as they are now so I heard nothing. I get on the plane; no Linda. Not much I can do so I go to Baltimore and later on, Linda shows up. She missed her flight. We had a good laugh over that one. I will miss her smiles and chats and companionship. She was a great zine publisher and a treasure to our fandom.

Today I received word that Linda (LCabrillo) McGee passed away. Linda contributed a great deal to our fandom over many years. Before the internet, she started the SH Lending Library, produced many beautiful SH zines, supported cons, and collected art. She was a song vid lover, and held Starsky and Hutch parties at major mixed media cons to help pimp people into the fandom and promote it during lean years when the show was no longer in syndication and before the internet was a factor.

Back in the paper zine days, fanfic was only in zines and once zines went out of print getting your hands on them depended on the generosity of other fans. For fans who couldn't attend cons or who only had mail correspondence with other fans (that's snail mail, not email!), getting someone to lend you an out-of-print zine was hit or miss.

Sometime in the early 90s, Linda started sharing out-of-print zines with a few other fans. Around 1995, she made the Starsky and Hutch Lending Library a more widely available resource with the help of other fans. Linda was its first Librarian. This is before AO3 and the Starsky and Hutch Archive was even a thought. Linda was a kindergarten teacher living and working in a small rural town in Georgia, so her zine and library activities had to be fairly clandestine, especially regarding slash zines. (Her slash activities were always a concern in the days when most of us were heavily closeted. She told me once a fan she was having a debate with regarding whether slash should even be allowed to exist threatened to out her to her school board. That was a serious career-ending threat.)

In spite of this, Linda continued supporting Starsky and Hutch fandom, especially slash fandom. The first SH gathering I attended was one of Linda McGee's Media West parties. I remember there were at least 60 women in that hotel room, watching very old song vids they were clearly familiar with, laughing, making fun of the distortions on the old vids, and enjoying lots of slashy talk. My dear friend, Rosemary, dragged me there; I never liked entering a room where I didn't know anyone. After bringing me to this mob of strangers, Ro promptly fell asleep on the floor, leaving me on my own. I think I'd seen maybe five episodes, and read a handful of zines (including some of Linda's). So I was completely intimidated.

So I just sat and watched the vids. And every time a clip with the red long johns came on, I'd quietly ask, "What episode is that?" It wasn't among the five I'd seen. After the third time I'd asked, Linda leaned over and said in her slow Georgia drawl, "Would you like to see that episode, little girl?" I blinked a few times and nodded. She asked the room if others were interested in the ep and it was unanimous. Episodes were as hard to get as out of print zines, and eps that weren't six generations down were even harder to find, and Linda's were early copies. And that's how I saw Satan's Witches for the first time. It was an experience I'll never forget. Thanks to Linda McGee.

I remember when the famous scene finally showed up, there was dead silence in this packed room, until a voice said softly, "I want to be that button right there!" No one had to ask which button. Everyone laughed. The same voice said, "So it's true. Starsky is Jewish." Again we all fell out. The voice belonged to one of the original SHareCon organizers, Nancy G. That was just one moment in a Linda McGee party.

Linda encouraged my fannish writing, and published some of my early stories. Many years later, she encouraged me to take over the SH party responsibilities, and I was happy to do so. She was always a big supporter of SHareCon, even before I got involved. She enjoyed supporting and attending any con she could get to, including Connexions, ZebraCon, and others.

While Linda contributed works in other zines, her own zines (with info on Fanlore.org) include: Back to Back, Blue Eyes and Blue Jeans 1, Blue Eyes and Blue Jeans 2, Cross the Line, Dreamers, In Your Eyes, The Lucky and the Strong, Risk, Still the One, ...Turned to Fire, and When Lightning Strikes.

No memory of Linda would be complete without mentioning her skill at SHarades, a form of Starsky and Hutch focused charades played at Linda's parties, SHareCon, or anywhere SH fans gathered. The game consisted of two teams; each team would write down what the other team would have to act out: episode, zine, or story titles, or dialog from the show, which they would write on small pieces of paper. Then each team would take turns picking out the phrases they would have to act out that their opponents had come up with. These games were fiercely competitive, and would go on late into the night. Linda and Rosemary were notorious for their skill, and after a few years, everyone agreed the two of them couldn't be on the same team or no one else would have a chance at winning. Pitting them against each other just made the game fiercer.

In later years, Linda developed interest in other fandoms including Man from UNCLE, Lord of the Rings (movies), and the Pirates of the Caribbean. While I believe she has a story in a MUNCLE zine, most of her creativity was focused on Starsky and Hutch. You can read two of her stories on the Starsky and Hutch Archive: Lifewatch, from the SH zine, Lifeline: A Decade of Sweet Revenge, in May, 1989, and Forever, from the zine The Lucky and the Strong, the first zine Linda produced with some friends in 1993. We're hoping to offer more of Linda's works soon.