Longboat Key resident reminisces on her accomplished life

When a telephone technician refused to serve a man suffering from the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, Lynne Woodman said the news spread like wildfire across the Baby Bell Telephone companies.

At the time, Woodman worked in the crisis management communications department at the Ohio Bell Telephone Company. 

She had been passionate about social justice issues since she was a child and she became infuriated upon hearing that the head of the communications department rejected making a program to educate the company's employees about AIDS.

Knowing the importance of the issue, Woodman went to the CEO to express interest in leading the program and eventually won approval to move forward.

Woodman spent many hours researching the AIDS epidemic, how it was spread, and prevention tactics. She also interviewed employees who were affected by the epidemic to add a human touch to the program.

“I developed the program and went to the union and asked for 30 guys (to attend a lecture),” Woodman said. “I didn't care who they were. I just needed 30 guys. I talked about AIDS, and how AIDS was spread. I said, ‘We all need to be alert.’ About an hour after the lecture finished, I got a call and they said, ‘I've got 130 guys who want to listen to you.’” 

Woodman said the program became a national model for her company and was adopted by every telephone company in the country. 

Now, Woodman lives at Plymouth Harbor Retirement Community and said she still is a "learning junkie." Woodman's passion for educating herself and others continues to burn bright and she calls the AIDS awareness program the best accomplishment in her life. 

Along with being accomplished in crisis management communications, Woodman said her passion for learning turned into the second anchor in her life, to go with music. She started playing piano as a child and has been an accomplished pianist since her high school years.

Throughout her life, Woodman approached learning as the key to discovering herself and how she could impact society. Today, she uses it to discover new things about herself.

Opening her eyes

Woodman navigated the first 10 years of her life despite being "legally blind."

Her future success was in doubt as she struggled through her school classes in Akron, Ohio.

With her parents, Robert and Frances Stinaff, opposed to modern medicine, her ability to keep up with her classmates wasn't likely. Eventually, the school sent home a letter telling her parents to take their daughter to a qualified ophthalmologist or they would seek legal action. 

“My mother broke down and took me to an ophthalmologist,” Woodman said. “He put the frames with the black lenses on me and put the chart up on the wall. When he took the black lenses out, I still remember my scream.

"I started seeing these visual images in my brain and I didn’t understand them. I wanted to discover more. Since then, my life has all been about what can I learn.”

After that appointment, the ophthalmologist urged the Stinaffs to get glasses for Woodman. Through corrective surgery, she was able to process those new visual images she saw through glasses. 

Woodman said that is where her journey as a "learning junkie" began.

Music to her ears

Photo by Petra Rivera

Music has been a key factor in Woodman's life since her childhood. Originally from Ohio, she started playing when she was 4 years old. Her greatest musical accomplishment took place in high school when she played with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus on a whim. 

Her high school music teacher sang for the chorus and wanted to inspire Woodman by having her attend a session by the talented performers. So, one day she decided to “smuggle” Woodman into a rehearsal. 

That day, the conductor walked up to his stand and announced that the accompanist had fallen ill. Immediately, her music teacher stood up and suggested Woodman, who was hiding in a corner of the room, would take over on the piano. 

“The conductor said, ‘Come on up and play,'” said Woodman. “He looked at this 17-year-old kid and didn’t bat an eye. So, I sat down at the piano and we launched into the song. The first page turn was difficult. So I'm playing, and a hand reaches over and turns the page. I couldn’t believe it. Robert Shaw, the greatest choral conductor of the 20th century, was turning pages for me. That might have been the best musical experience of my life.”

On air

Woodman started as a piano accompanist in high school and then majored in music at Ohio Wesleyan University.

During her 20s, her father was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. She realized she wasn’t being paid enough as an accompanist to visit him regularly, so she started looking for another career. It led her to explore her love for words and to minor in communications. 

Woodman’s curiosity led her to become a local television reporter for WLWT in Cincinnati. Her favorite assignment was taking paramedic classes while on the air. Her weekly segment would educate viewers about the steps it took to become a paramedic.

She said the news van she drove looked identical to the police vans at the time so it led to her being frequently stopped by residents who were looking for help with minor medical emergencies. That included delivering two babies on the side of the road.

Learning never ages

At 81 years old, Woodman continues to learn about herself and the world around her. 

She continues with her passion for music and words. She is currently rehearsing to perform in a recital in January at Plymouth Harbor. She also helps with communication efforts in the community, such as writing emails, speeches for staff members and delivering hurricane news.

Recently, Woodman attended a series at Plymouth Harbor titled “Acting Our Age.” Led by the Playworks Group performing arts company, the course dives into understanding one’s self in their elderly years through the reflection of their past. They plan to perform their stories for the public on Oct. 27. Woodman said that the program changed her view on love.

“I have learned more about who I am and what matters to me than I ever have in my entire life,” said Woodman. “I would have loved to know this when I was 35, but I don't think I had the maturity to understand it. Now, I do so I just embrace it and go forward.”