Linda Kurtz
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Born | Linda Kurtz |
|---|---|
| Education | University of Delaware, Goldey Beacom College |
| Hair color | Blond |
| Eye color | Blue |
| Title(s) | Miss Delaware 2004 |
| Major competition(s) | Miss America 2005 |
Linda Kurtz is an American beauty queen and broadcast journalist from Dover, Delaware, who was crowned Miss Delaware in 2004. She went on to compete for the title of Miss America 2005 in Atlantic City where she was a Quality of Life Award Finalist. The pageant was ultimately won by Deidre Downs of Alabama. Kurtz was the last Miss Delaware to compete in Atlantic City.
Kurtz earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Leadership and Consumer Economics from the University of Delaware and a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Goldey Beacom College.
Kurtz competed four times for the title of Miss Delaware, having previously won several preliminary swimsuit and community service awards. In 2001, she was a non-finalist. In 2002, she was fourth runner-up to Shoha Parekh. In 2003, she was first runner-up to Erin Williams. For the four years she was competing for the Miss Delaware title she performed a vocal presentation for talent. At the Miss America Pageant she decided to put her fifteen years of dance training into motion and performed a lyrical ballet to Linda Eder's rendition of "Man of La Mancha (I, Don Quixote)". As a Quality of Life Finalist at Miss America, Linda focused her year of service promoting her platform, "Alzheimer's Disease Awareness and Advocacy", for which she won a national award from the Alzheimer's Association. She continues to serve as a volunteer with the Alzheimer's Association and the Miss Delaware Scholarship Organization.
After giving up her title, Kurtz worked as an award winning host and producer with Comcast Network's CN8 Comcast Newsmakers, interviewing local celebrities and politicians, reporting from special events, and hosting various functions. Following this position, she became the morning news anchor and a reporter for WMDT, the ABC affiliate in Salisbury, Maryland.