At the end of March, 1998, Linda posed for a series of pictures, taken by daughter Mary, intended for her new cookery book Linda McCartney On Tour. She was seen with her famous Old English Sheepdogs, and her North American Appaloosa stallion Blankit. It was during this period that doctors informed Linda that her cancer had spread to her liver.
Linda died on Friday, April 17, 1998, at 5:04 AM (West Coast American Time), aged 56. She was on Paul's arms at their ranch home, north east of Tucson, Arizona. The news of her death are kept secret until Sunday, while the location is withheld until Wednesday. Shortly after her death, Paul arranges to have her cremated and will bring her ashes back to England. Linda bravely fought cancer for over two years.
On Sunday, April 19, Paul and his children arrived back in Britain and returned to their farmhouse near Rye in Sussex. He immediately scatters Linda's ashes over the farm in what a close friend to the family described as "a quiet family occasion" involving Paul and his grieving children, Heather, Mary, Stella and James. It was then that Paul began to inform close friends of Linda's death - including Ringo and fellow animal rights campaigner Carla Lane.
On this same day, at 7:44 PM, Sky News, in Europe, break the news that Linda died in California (Paul had decided to say that through his spokesman Geoff Baker). Paul asks that "anyone wishing to pay tribute to Linda should give to cancer research or animal welfare. Or the tribute that Linda would have liked best - Go Veggie!". Her true place of death would not be publicly revealed until April 22.
Also, a message from the McCartneys was printed in the American newspaper The New York Times. |
