Surf Cat

Judie Lansdowne’s life was filled with rich experiences: capturing video news from small aircraft; helping restore a World War II submarine in Texas; entertaining children and adults as a puppeteer.

Her fame came from writing novels for Regency Romance.

“I have every one of her romance novels,” said Judie’s sister-in-law Judy Smith. “They were very good reads and clean reads.”

“She was talented and very friendly; just a wonderful person,” said Denise (Freitag) Mosher, who puppeteered with Judie in Kenosha as a teen. “She was my first boss and best boss.”

“The only thing that bugged me was that she got straight A’s and never studied,” remarked her brother, Joe Smith.

Judith “Judie” A. Lansdowne, 75, of Kenosha, formerly of Alabama, passed away Oct. 8, at Aurora Medical Center. Surviving are her daughter, Fay (Michael) Lang; two grandchildren; a brother, Joseph (Judy) Smith and niece, Jody Smith.

Judie was born Aug. 23, 1944 in Kenosha to Joseph and Verna Smith.

After graduating from St. Joseph’s High School in 1963 she worked at a local animal hospital, saving her money to go to New York City. There she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. “She had wanted to be a writer since she was 8 years old,” Fay said. “She went to the Academy to learn how to write dialogue.”

Judie attempted an acting career and took the stage name Jyl (for Jillian) Harrison (“after her favorite Beatle,”) said Fay.

When acting didn’t take off, Judie took a job as a puppeteer with Nicolo Marionettes, doing shows with life-size puppets in 40 states, including some for the Bozo Circus show. She also did children’s voices on radio soap operas, appeared on television talk shows and worked for the Sid and Marty Krofft organization.

Tired of life on the road, in 1972 Judie returned to Kenosha.

She resumed her education at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and to fund it, Judie created a puppet performance troupe, Peanut Butter and Jelly Limited.

Judie wrote scripts which were pre-recorded and employed local teens to help her work some 24 marionette puppets for birthday and holiday shows throughout Kenosha.

“It was a blast; a very unique thing to do,” Denise said.

Graduating in 1975 with a degree in English, Judie was the first Parkside student to graduate with a straight-A average.

At Parkside, Judie met Al Lansdowne, a retired Navy submariner studying broadcasting. They married on March 18, 1976.

Al had a daughter, Fay, 15, and son Allen, 19, who later died in a motorcycle accident.

Judie created instructional videos for Gateway Technical College until they moved from Kenosha in 1979.

Al’s employment relocated the couple several times during which Judie used her diverse skills as a textbook proofreader in Iowa and as TV news photographer in Illinois.

Judie began her writing career in 1989 after she and Al moved to Dayton, Ohio. When her first horror-themed stories didn’t sell, she turned to romance novels.

She got the idea to write for Regency Romances from Fay who had become a fan of them when she was at Tremper High School High School.

Judie’s first book, “Amelia’s Intrigue” was published in 1995 and after that the novels rolled off the presses in quick succession until there were 28 in all.

Judie loved writing in the historical setting of 1800s England espoused by the Regency line, Fay said. Her own spin on the stories was to inject a bit of humor and sometimes poke fun at the ruling classes, she said.

“Al did a lot of her research for her,” Judy said. “We bought her a huge book about the time period to help her with her novels.”

Judy was impressed that Judie was able to describe fancy dresses of the day in detail but she herself didn’t like dressing up.

“You couldn’t get her into a dress,” Judy said. “For our 50th wedding anniversary she said, ‘Don’t expect me to wear a skirt or a dress.’”

In her spare time, Judie made time to help restore a submarine.

From 2001 through 2014, Judie and Al traveled from their home in Guntersville, Ala., to Galveston, Tex., to work on the U.S.S. Cavalla, a Gata class sub built in 1943 and one of seven submarines Al had served on in the Navy. Judie scrubbed surfaces of rust and pitched in where needed, Fay said.

Judie continued writing novels even after Al retired. “She just kept writing and working out of their motor home,” Fay said.

Many fans collected all of her books and attended her book signings.

“Amelia’s Intrigue” won the Romantic Times Magazine Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best First Regency Romance of 1995. Judie also received The Holt Medallion from the Virginia Romance Writers for “Camilla’s Fate,” published in 1997.

Despite the accolades, Fay said her mother said her greatest pride in life was being a partner to her husband. “Her own books came second.”

“She never thought of herself as better than anyone else; she just thought her writing was a gift,” Fay said.