Linda Biehl

Last updated
Linda Biehl
Born1943
OccupationPhilanthropist
SpousePeter Biehl
Children4

Linda Biehl (born 1943) is an American philanthropist and mother of Amy Biehl, an activist who was murdered in 1993 in South Africa. She is the co-founder and director of the United States-based Amy Biehl Foundation (with husband Peter Biehl) and the South African-based Amy Biehl Foundation Trust.

Contents

Early life

Biehl was born in 1943 in Chicago. [1] She met her late husband Peter at Whittier College in California and they had four children together. [1] Before the death of her daughter Amy, she ran an American Indian art gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico. [2]

Philanthropy

After the 1993 death of her daughter Amy in South Africa, the Biehl's supported the amnesty appeal, to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, by those convicted of Amy's murder. [3] After a tour of the Cape Town townships, the couple started developing projects to continue their daughter's work. [4] They followed in 1994 by creating the Amy Biehl Foundation. [5] Linda continued her work after Peter passed away from colon cancer in 2002. [6]

In 2008, Biehl was awarded the Order of the Companions of O. R. Tambo in Bronze in South Africa, an award from the President. [7] The same year she was announced as the first Greely Scholar at University of Massachusetts Lowell. [8] [9] She, along with husband Peter, was awarded the Aline and Norman Felton Humanitarian Award in 1999. [10]

In 2016 Biehl was hired as a consultant with Tyler Perry's Atlanta based production company to work on a movie about Amy's life and the relationship the family has with the two men convicted of her murder. [11] The movie, The Year of the Great Storm, was still in production as of January 2019. [12] [13]

Citations

  1. 1 2 "Linda Biehl (1943 - ) | The Presidency". www.thepresidency.gov.za. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  2. Vergnani, Linda (2001-01-19). "Parents of Slain Fulbright Scholar Embrace Her Cause in South Africa". The Chronicle of Higher Education. ISSN   0009-5982 . Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  3. "Linda Biehl and Easy Nofemela". The Forgiveness Project. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  4. "Forgiving the Unforgivable: Mom Worked With Daughter's Killers to Bring Hope to a Desperate Community". Good News Network. 2018-08-26. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  5. "South African killers now work on behalf of their victim". Los Angeles Times. 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  6. "Amy Biehl legacy: Reconciliation that spans generations". Orange County Register. 2013-08-27. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  7. "Linda Biehl (1943 - ) | The Presidency". www.thepresidency.gov.za. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  8. "2008 Greeley Peace Scholar | Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies | PACSI | UMass Lowell". www.uml.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  9. "Linda Biehl to speak on restorative justice, Nelson Mandela and her daughter's death in Feb. 4 presentation | Kansas State University | News and Communications Services". www.k-state.edu. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  10. "Death Penalty Focus: Annual Awards Dinner". 2008-02-28. Archived from the original on 2008-02-28. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  11. "Telling Amy Biehl's story nearly 23 years after her death, thanks to Tyler Perry". Orange County Register. 2016-05-03. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  12. "Tyler Perry to Produce Apartheid Murder Drama 'The Year of the Great Storm'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  13. D'Alessandro, Anthony (2019-03-05). "Media Farm Pictures Makes Three Picture Deal With Karzan Kader". Deadline. Retrieved 2019-11-15.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winnie Madikizela-Mandela</span> South African activist and politician (1936–2018)

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African anti-apartheid activist, Mother Of The Nation, politician, and the second wife of Nelson Mandela. She served as a Member of Parliament from 1994 to 2003, and from 2009 until her death, and was a deputy minister of arts and culture from 1994 to 1996. A member of the African National Congress (ANC) political party, she served on the ANC's National Executive Committee and headed its Women's League. Madikizela-Mandela was known to her supporters as the "Mother of the Nation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parker–Hulme murder case</span> 1954 New Zealand murder case

The Parker–Hulme murder case was the murder of Honorah Rieper in Christchurch, New Zealand, on 22 June 1954. The perpetrators were Rieper's teenage daughter Pauline Parker and her friend Juliet Hulme. Parker was 16 at the time, while Hulme was 15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Lowell</span> American poet (1874–1925)

Amy Lawrence Lowell was an American poet of the imagist school, which promoted a return to classical values. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Perry</span> English author (1938–2023)

Anne Perry was a British writer. She was the author of the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt and William Monk series of historical detective fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phylicia Rashad</span> American actress (born 1948)

Phylicia Rashad is an American actress. She is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University and best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992) which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations in 1985 and 1986. She also played Ruth Lucas on Cosby (1996–2000).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Smart</span> American actress (born 1976)

Amy Lysle Smart is an American actress. Her first role in film was in Martin Kunert's anthology horror film Campfire Tales, followed by a minor part in Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers (1997). In 1998, Smart played a role in Dee Snider's Strangeland. She garnered widespread recognition after appearing in the mainstream teen drama Varsity Blues (1999), as well as for her recurring role as Ruby on the television series Felicity (1999–2001). She followed this with a lead role in the college sex comedy Road Trip (2000), and co-starred in Jerry Zucker's ensemble comedy Rat Race (2001). She had a lead role opposite Ashton Kutcher in the sci-fi drama The Butterfly Effect (2004).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyler Perry</span> American actor and filmmaker (born 1969)

Tyler Perry is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her nephew Brian Simmons. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmaking techniques to filmed productions of live stage plays, many of which have been subsequently adapted into feature films. Madea's first appearance was in Perry's play I Can Do Bad All by Myself (1999) staged in Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madea</span> Fictional character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry

Mabel "Madea" Earlene Simmons is a character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry. She is portrayed as a tough, street-smart elderly African-American woman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jurnee Smollett</span> American actress (born 1986)

Jurnee Diana Smollett is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress appearing on television sitcoms, including On Our Own (1994–1995) and Full House (1992–1994). She gained greater recognition with her role in the critically acclaimed Kasi Lemmons directed film Eve's Bayou (1997), which earned her a Critics' Choice Movie Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gugulethu</span> Suburb of Cape Town, in Western Cape, South Africa

Gugulethu is a township in the Western Cape, South Africa and is 15 km from Cape Town. Its name is a contraction of igugu lethu, which is Xhosa for our pride. The township was established along with Nyanga in the 1960s.

One Settler, One Bullet was a rallying cry and slogan originated by the Azanian People's Liberation Army (APLA), the armed wing of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), during the struggle of the 1980s against apartheid in South Africa. The slogan grimly parodied the African National Congress's slogan 'One Man, One Vote', which eventually became 'One Person, One Vote'. It is not to be confused with the controversial protest song "Dubul' ibhunu".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linda Perry</span> American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer

Linda Perry is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. She was the lead singer and primary songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, and has since founded two record labels and composed and produced songs for other artists, which include: "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera; "What You Waiting For?" by Gwen Stefani; and "Get the Party Started" by Pink. Perry has also contributed to albums by Adele, Alicia Keys, and Courtney Love, as well as signing and distributing James Blunt in the United States. Perry was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Biehl</span> American anti-apartheid activist, scholar, and murder victim

Amy Elizabeth Biehl was a Fulbright Scholar and American graduate of Stanford University and an anti-Apartheid activist in South Africa who was murdered by a black mob shouting anti-white slurs at her in Cape Town. The four men convicted of her murder were granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Biehl Foundation Trust</span>

The Amy Biehl Foundation Trust was the organization established in Cape Town, South Africa by Linda and Peter Biehl commemorate their daughter Amy Biehl, a white American anti-apartheid activist who was killed by a black mob during racial violence in South Africa in 1993.

Carolyn Coman is an American writer best known for children's books. Her novels What Jamie Saw (1995) and Many Stones (2000) were among the runners-up for major annual awards by the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Book Foundation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Fitzgerald (trade unionist)</span>

Mary Fitzgerald was an Irish-born South African political activist and was considered to have been the first female trade unionist in the country. She was South Africa's first female master printer. As editor of the Voice of Labour, she published articles advocating for women's enfranchisement, racially integrated trade unions and revolutionary socialism. She played a lead role in the Black Friday Riots of 1913. She was the first woman to be elected to the Johannesburg City Council (JCC) in 1915 and later served as Deputy Mayor of Johannesburg.

<i>The Single Moms Club</i> 2014 American film

The Single Moms Club is a 2014 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Tyler Perry. The film stars Nia Long, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Zulay Henao, Cocoa Brown, Amy Smart, Terry Crews, and Perry. The film was released on March 14, 2014. The film received negative reviews from critics and was a box office disappointment, only grossing $16.4 million against a budget of $8 million.

<i>The Good Nurse</i> 2022 crime drama film by Tobias Lindholm

The Good Nurse is a 2022 American thriller film starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne, about the serial killer Charles Cullen and the fellow nurse who suspects him. The film is based on the 2013 true-crime book of the same name by Charles Graeber. It is directed by Tobias Lindholm and written by Krysty Wilson-Cairns. The film also stars Nnamdi Asomugha, Kim Dickens, and Noah Emmerich.

<i>Mother to Mother</i> 1998 book by Sindiwe Magona

Mother to Mother is an epistolary novel by South African writer Sindiwe Magona.

Marcellette ("Marci") Gaillard-Gay Williams is an American retired academic administrator who served as interim chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst from July 2001 until July 2002. She was the university's eighth chancellor and the first woman to serve in the position.