Wiggin was known for eclectic tastes
Toolbox
By Brent Curtis Herald Staff - Published: November 19, 2008
Linda Wiggin's home says a lot about her.
Painted white with purple trim, and dark green doors and window frames, the two-story home stands out for its unusual color scheme — one its owner was proud of. Police believe a body found in the home at 186 College St. late Monday night is Wiggin.
"She said she wanted it to look like a painted lady," Wiggin's next-door neighbor and friend Tom Sykes said. "She thought it was pretty. I thought it was pretty gaudy."
Eccentric tastes were one of the characteristics that defined Wiggin.
While police continued investigating the circumstances of her death Tuesday, Wiggin's friends and colleagues recalled a life as contrasting in its own way as the paint on her house.
Police said Tuesday afternoon they were awaiting results of the autopsy before positively identifying the body.
For example, while described as an outgoing and vivacious personality who dabbled in everything from writing and photography to Tarot cards and aura photography readings, Wiggin had no close friends and rarely invited people to her home.
Sykes, arguably her closest friend locally, said he hadn't seen or heard from her in weeks and her co-workers at Castleton State College, where she taught English composition and effective speaking since the fall semester of 2007, said they didn't really know her.
"What I could tell from watching her in the classroom was that she was well-prepared and enthusiastic, presenting her lessons in an entertaining manner that drew her students in," said Dennis Shramek, chairman of the English Department at the college.
But while Shramek said he knew Wiggin better than anyone else in the department, he found it difficult to come up with personal characteristics or anecdotes about her.
She was also extensively educated with undergraduate degrees from Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., a master of business administration degree and she was in the final stages of completing her work on a master's degree in psychology. However, she didn't pursue careers in either field, working instead as an instructor at Castleton State College and doing freelance writing, photography and Tarot card readings to make ends meet — something her friends said she had difficulty doing while paying for a sprawling old house in constant need of repairs.
Sykes recalled a number of details about his neighbor — she was a Buddhist, a heavy smoker, a cat person (she had three) and she once lived in Europe with her husband, who died more than half a decade ago.
But even though Sykes, who has lived on College Street for 20 years, was around when Wiggin moved into the neighborhood about eight years ago, he said he never learned where she came from or how her husband died.
"I only know it happened suddenly," he said. "I think he died in her arms."
Wiggin also worked occasionally for Pyramid Holistic Wellness Center in Rutland where she would perform Tarot and aura readings, according to owner William Kelley.
"She interpreted the colors of the auras exposed in the pictures she took," Kelley said.
He described Wiggin as generous, extending sessions with clients whose fortunes she was reading, and also approachable in a way that many people with her professional talents are not.
"She was definitely down to earth," he said. "She was intelligent and wanted people to have a good quality of life."
Contact Brent Curtis at brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com.