Lydia Leigh Gold
Lydia Leigh Gold (Zielinski) |
Business woman with many friends
Notes:
• "Lydia Leigh Gold, daughter of Jasper Curtis 'Jack' and Betty Joyce (Kennedy) Gold, was born on 18 October 1953 in Huntsville. Her paternal grandparents were James Samuel and Bermer (Kennedy) Gold of Huntsville. Her maternal grandparents were Finis Kennedy and Virginia 'Virgie' Louise Dupree. The Duprees lived in the Monrovia community; Virgie's homeplace was located across the street from where Mount Zion Baptist Church now stands. Lydia, like her father Jack, was an only child.
Lydia attended Madison Pike (now Morris) Elementary and Butler Junior and Senior High, where she was a member of the dance team. She later transferred to Lee High, graduating in 1972. Her interests were art and music, and for two years, she studied art at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Around this time, she met Terry Richard McNeal (who later founded TMAC) and on 23 March 1974, they married at Huntsville's Lakewood Baptist Church. When Terry graduated from Auburn later that year, the couple returned to Huntsville.
The marriage ended and in 1975 Lydia moved to Seattle. There, she spent some time in college, but the turning point in her life was yet to come. She met Rod Dyke, owner of a Seattle waterfront shop known as 'Golden Age Collectibles.' Lydia determined she would franchise Rob's shop.
She moved back to Huntsville in 1979 and, together with Jack, opened her own 'Golden Age Collectibles,' located in the corner of the Oak Park Shopping Center. Jack eventually turned the business over to Lydia, but was always nearby in an advisory capacity. The shop became a Mecca for area comic collectors and people just wanting to 'hang out.' Trekkies searched for Star Trek memorabilia, old movie enthusiasts found photos and posters.
Around 1982, she married Kurt Sweigert and the shop temporarily closed. After reopening in summer of 1987, Lydia decided to change the shop's name. Intentional or not, 'Golden' Age was a play on her maiden name; the new shop would parody her given name, instead. It thus became 'Tattooed Lady Comics' after Groucho Marx's well-known song, 'Lydia, the Tattooed Lady,' and not the front, as some suspected, for a tattoo parlor.
'Tattoed Lady' was originally located at the Oakwood Shopping Center next to Big Ed's Pizzeria. In due time, the shop moved to 'The Mall' eventually relocating on the Parkway next to the Aquarium Shop. It finally settled in at Oak Park Shopping Center, nestled scant feet from where she began in 1979. The Tattooed Lady had come full circle.
In addition to plying the trade of comic art, Lydia expanded her wares to include skateboarding merchandise. She also dipped into dramaturgy, helping design and create t-shirts for community theater shows. Her involvement in such diverse worlds helped her meet those from all walks of life - and just as some people adopt stray cats, Lydia adopted people.
Lydia passed away unexpectedly in Huntsville on 15 January 1993. She is buried at the Mount Zion Church Cemetery in Monrovia. Still fondly remembered, Lydia never met a stranger, and anyone who met Lydia never met a better friend." - Zielinski
• "Ten years later, through the agency of friends and family led by Councilman Bill Kling and Rick Storey, the city's skatepark (located behind the Historic Huntsville Depot at 200 Cleveland Avenue, NE) was dedicated in her memory by the Huntsville City Council.
With a little more pushing and voting, a sign was finally erected a few years later to acknowledge the late skateboarding activist
The 'Lydia Gold Skatepark' remains a popular hangout...and we know she smiles down on it." - Find A Grave
Related Links:
| Born: | October 18, 1953, Huntsville, Alabama |
| Died: | January 15, 1993, Huntsville, Alabama |
| Buried: | Mount Zion Church Cemetery in Monrovia, Alabama |
Notes:
• "Lydia Leigh Gold, daughter of Jasper Curtis 'Jack' and Betty Joyce (Kennedy) Gold, was born on 18 October 1953 in Huntsville. Her paternal grandparents were James Samuel and Bermer (Kennedy) Gold of Huntsville. Her maternal grandparents were Finis Kennedy and Virginia 'Virgie' Louise Dupree. The Duprees lived in the Monrovia community; Virgie's homeplace was located across the street from where Mount Zion Baptist Church now stands. Lydia, like her father Jack, was an only child.
Lydia attended Madison Pike (now Morris) Elementary and Butler Junior and Senior High, where she was a member of the dance team. She later transferred to Lee High, graduating in 1972. Her interests were art and music, and for two years, she studied art at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Around this time, she met Terry Richard McNeal (who later founded TMAC) and on 23 March 1974, they married at Huntsville's Lakewood Baptist Church. When Terry graduated from Auburn later that year, the couple returned to Huntsville.
The marriage ended and in 1975 Lydia moved to Seattle. There, she spent some time in college, but the turning point in her life was yet to come. She met Rod Dyke, owner of a Seattle waterfront shop known as 'Golden Age Collectibles.' Lydia determined she would franchise Rob's shop.
She moved back to Huntsville in 1979 and, together with Jack, opened her own 'Golden Age Collectibles,' located in the corner of the Oak Park Shopping Center. Jack eventually turned the business over to Lydia, but was always nearby in an advisory capacity. The shop became a Mecca for area comic collectors and people just wanting to 'hang out.' Trekkies searched for Star Trek memorabilia, old movie enthusiasts found photos and posters.
Around 1982, she married Kurt Sweigert and the shop temporarily closed. After reopening in summer of 1987, Lydia decided to change the shop's name. Intentional or not, 'Golden' Age was a play on her maiden name; the new shop would parody her given name, instead. It thus became 'Tattooed Lady Comics' after Groucho Marx's well-known song, 'Lydia, the Tattooed Lady,' and not the front, as some suspected, for a tattoo parlor.
'Tattoed Lady' was originally located at the Oakwood Shopping Center next to Big Ed's Pizzeria. In due time, the shop moved to 'The Mall' eventually relocating on the Parkway next to the Aquarium Shop. It finally settled in at Oak Park Shopping Center, nestled scant feet from where she began in 1979. The Tattooed Lady had come full circle.
In addition to plying the trade of comic art, Lydia expanded her wares to include skateboarding merchandise. She also dipped into dramaturgy, helping design and create t-shirts for community theater shows. Her involvement in such diverse worlds helped her meet those from all walks of life - and just as some people adopt stray cats, Lydia adopted people.
Lydia passed away unexpectedly in Huntsville on 15 January 1993. She is buried at the Mount Zion Church Cemetery in Monrovia. Still fondly remembered, Lydia never met a stranger, and anyone who met Lydia never met a better friend." - Zielinski
• "Ten years later, through the agency of friends and family led by Councilman Bill Kling and Rick Storey, the city's skatepark (located behind the Historic Huntsville Depot at 200 Cleveland Avenue, NE) was dedicated in her memory by the Huntsville City Council.
With a little more pushing and voting, a sign was finally erected a few years later to acknowledge the late skateboarding activist
The 'Lydia Gold Skatepark' remains a popular hangout...and we know she smiles down on it." - Find A Grave
Related Links:
• Find A Grave - Page created by The Mikado, et al.
• Yelp - Lydia Gold Skatepark (Originally found at http://www.yelp.com/biz/lydia-gold-skatepark-huntsville.)
• Zielinski - Article titled Lydia Leigh Gold" submitted by James E. (Jim) Zielinski for The Heritage of Madison County, Alabama, by The Madison County Heritage Book Committee, John P. Rankin, Chairman, page 209.