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Sondra Lynn of East Hampton died of leukemia on June 17 at the age of 57. She had been ill for several years and was in hospice care.
Born on January 20, 1958 in Southampton, she was the daughter of Harry P. Cullum, who predeceased her, and Christine (Yuska) Cullum. She was known to many locally as a healer using acupuncture and herbal medicine as her modality. Her acupuncture practice was most active from 1999 to 2006, after which she spent time in the American Southwest before returning to East Hampton in 2010. She briefly practiced again before her diagnosis in 2011, at which time she closed her practice. Survivors said that many knew her to have gentle hands and a kind heart, along with the mind and experience to help those in pain.
Ms. Lynn was a graduate of Antioch University in San Francisco, with a bachelor’s degree in arts and communications, and spent years doing black and white photography. She lived in numerous states, had various jobs, and traveled internationally when possible. Described by survivors as a “free spirit,” she also graduated in 1982 from the New England School of Acupuncture, where she was a student in the school’s early years of existence. In 1998, she graduated from the New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine on Long Island.
While her scholarly pursuits were always of interest, it was the metaphysical world that held great fascination for her. Informally, she studied astrology, divination with cards, and the I Ching, and read widely on many subjects about spirituality. She read cards professionally in Arizona, and for a brief time at Gurney’s Inn in Montauk, and she believed deeply in reincarnation and had described herself as an “old soul.”
Writing had also been a lifelong avocation. She was the recipient of the Guild Hall Literary Award in 1976 for her work as editor of the Beach Plums magazine of East Hampton High School. She wrote for and edited the American Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine and enjoyed writing fiction, prose and poetry.
Her book, “Leaving This World: A Poetry Collection,” inspired by coming to terms with her mortality in the face of an incurable disease, was published independently in 2014. Ms. Lynn considered this collection to be an important body of spiritual work in the form of poems left as offerings to others facing illness and mortality, survivors said.
“She loved to travel, had friends all over the world, and was one of a kind,” her mother said. Her friends are found everywhere from Italy to Hawaii and Canada, and numerous states in between, along with many local friends, according to survivors.
Ms. Lynn was married to Holger Winenga of Germany from 1992 to 2003.
In addition to her mother, who lives in East Hampton, she is survived by a sister, Donna Cullum; a niece, Rya Bechberger; and a great-nephew, Harry Bechberger, all of Colorado.
A memorial gathering took place at the American Legion Hall in Amagansett on June 27.
on Jun 29, 2015