Summer of '69: Linda del Zio Zoffer

Linda del Zio Zoffer, 61, Young Republican Club member at Hofstra University in 1969; ballet dancer, interior designer, Chapel Hill, N.C.

I was a moderate. I have never been conservative. I believe in less government. I attended the Young Republican Club meetings, we met on campus.

I did vote for Nixon. I was still hopeful at that time that he would make changes. He was a very smart man, but as with most politicians, he was also a very conflicted man. He said he would bring soldiers home, we were starting to pull out of Vietnam. The Vietnam War was the backdrop to everything.

I know there were people who were hideously discriminated against but as a woman I never felt put upon. My father felt education for women was extremely important. I was fortunate to marry a man who very much was supportive of this, too. . . .

At the time [he] was becoming a lieutenant in the Army and I felt I wanted to support him. He was in the ROTC and had to wear his uniform on campus a couple of days a week. No one ever was physically violent with him but people would come up to him and he would speak calmly and explain his position. Then they would shake hands and part company.

I was a ballet dancer. I was dancing only a couple of hours a day that summer because I was planning my wedding. My wedding was my life. I was getting married Aug. 24 to my fiance, David. We're still married.