Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Linda Laughlin

Age: 54

Occupation: Interim visual arts director for the Steamboat Springs Arts Council, vice president of the SSAC Board

Place of birth: Chadds Ford, Pa.

Q. When did you move to Routt County and what brought you here?

A. After years of winter vacations in the 'Boat, my husband and I both turned 50 and decided it was time to shake things up a bit. Sunshine, champagne powder, Alpenglow, big sky, healthy living, great community, fascinating people, wonderful place to raise our son, and yes, we brought our jobs with us.

Q. What's the biggest risk you've taken recently?

A. Owning horses! We've made some pretty hilarious mistakes, but after nine months and a couple false starts, we have three terrific paints that we're riding on trails. My western-style outfit still needs some work, but I'm getting there. My dream is to ride like the wind across the plains somewhere and eventually go on a cattle drive or two and not look too foolish.

Q. What did you want to be when you grew up?

A. A famous costume designer on Broadway - my degree is in theater, but I was a techie - lighting, design, some directing. You'd never catch me onstage, just behind the scenes.

Q. What was your first job?

A. Waitress at Betty's Ice Cream Bar, a '50s-style restaurant, straight out of "Happy Days" back in Pennsylvania, where I grew up.

Q. Do you have any phobias?

A. No phobias, except maybe skiing through the trees with my hotshot girlfriends on a big powder day and they say, "Follow me!"

Q. If you could go back in time, to what event or time period would you go?

A. It's tempting to think about going back to what appears to be a more simple place and time, but if you really look beneath the surface, people struggled with the same issues, and life really wasn't that simple. The Internet has changed the world, but probably my grandparents would have said the same thing about the telephone. I'm content to make the most of the time I have here and now. But in my next life, I'd like to come back as a cat.

Q. What is your favorite thing to do in Routt County?

A. Sit on my deck and watch the late afternoon sun set over the mountains. I still can't get over the beauty here.

Favorites

Book: "Gift from the Sea," Anne Morrow Lindbergh; "Peace Like a River," Leif Enger; "English Creek," Ivan Doig; "Angle of Repose," Wallace Stegner

Song: Alanis Morissette's "You Learn"

Color: The color that is neither blue or purple but in between : let's call it "blurple"

Food: Is coffee a food?

Sport to watch: My son playing Steamboat Little League

Vacation spot: Maine

Recreational activity: Scuba diving

Movie: "Out of Africa"

Magazine: "O" The Oprah Magazine