Linda Callender, who as a girl in Atlanta dreamed of racing sled dogs, grew up to be able to do so. She also loved exploring caves and wilderness camping.

But her broadest legacy stems from her years of teaching English and helping write standards to improve state education in the 1990s.

Callender, 62, of Anoka, died recently after a 20-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

"Linda is remembered as a leader in her field who developed and wrote academic standards for Minnesota during the first standards movement of the late 1990s," said a memo from Dennis Carlson, superintendent of the Anoka-Hennepin School District. "Her colleagues from her years in the classroom recall that Linda's students produced outstanding work and writing."

Charles Callender met his wife-to-be about 32 years ago when she showed up for a winter camp-out with the University of Minnesota Rovers group in Anoka County. "She was from Georgia and couldn't figure out how to get tent stakes to work in the snow," he said. It also caught his attention that she owned two sled dogs that she raced.

Callender said the sled dog thing was "a Southerner's childhood fantasy after seeing Sergeant Preston of the Yukon." Later the couple would canoe and hike in the Yukon, he added.

"She had a good sense of humor, was very bright and very curious," she said.

Long canoe and winter sled dog trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness became an escape from her demanding and ultimately frustrating work in the 1990s. She was on a team formed by the Legislature to develop uniform standards and assessment criteria for public schools, her husband said.

For a few years, Callender worked with Iris McGinnis at the state Education Department on the controversial Profile of Learning standards, getting input from teachers around the state, said McGinnis, of Anoka. But after a change of political leadership, the Profile standards were tossed in favor of statewide reading, writing and math tests.

"It was a frustrating period for her," Charles Callender said. "They really thought they were moving education forward by having a [uniform] set of standards and curriculum."

For the past few years, Callender had worked as a learning equity specialist, looking for ways to improve teaching and performance of minority students. She was "known as a wonderful teacher," McGinnis said.

"I admired her devotion to scholarship," McGinnis said. "Whenever a new book on education came out, Linda read the whole thing. That is not normal behavior. We'd all ask her what it said."

In addition to her husband, Callender is survived by a son, Richard, and her brother, Dallas Jones, of Atlanta. Services have been held.

Jim Adams • 612-673-7658