Christina Nestor Pappas Davidson, former Time Life reporter and leading figure in Provincetown in the 1970s and 1980s, died at her home in Los Angeles on Jan. 31, 2021. She was 91.
Christina was born in Queens, N.Y. to parents who came from different villages on the same mountain in Thessaly, Greece. Her father ran a deli, where she and her two brothers learned to slice lox as thin as paper.
She got into Queens College at age 16, after forging her father’s signature. She became the first woman president of the student body and met Eleanor Roosevelt. After she allowed a Communist speaker on campus, Christina was suspended, and had to delay her graduation — a badge she wore proudly.
Her first job was numbering photographs for Time Life. She rose in the organization to become a reporter and editor, working on the first issue of Sports Illustrated. Eventually she became an editor at Family Weekly. She lived in Greenwich Village, and once had a drink with Dylan Thomas at the White Horse Tavern.
She met her husband, Dr. William Davidson, in New York. Christina had an old car, and Bill was a member of AAA; a helping hand led to love, but they broke up when he got a job working at a hospital in Los Angeles. When Christina was sent to L.A. to interview Irving Stone, Bill offered to pick her up at the airport. By the end of the trip, they were engaged. After getting married at the Ethical Culture Society in Manhattan, Christina moved to California.
She had three children and became active in the establishment of the Oakwood School in North Hollywood, where she helped to found the adult literacy program.
In 1974, she survived a false diagnosis of terminal cancer. The following summer she opened a stall selling kites in Provincetown, which soon grew into Outermost Kites, a prominent storefront on Commercial Street. She briefly owned and ran an inn, the Acton Bell, which is currently the Eben House. She was also one of the original owners of Gabriel’s on Bradford Street with Elizabeth Gabriel and the late Laurel Brooke. Returning every summer with her family, Christina became known as the Kite Lady.
She and Bill retired to Los Angeles. After he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she became involved in Opica, a pioneering dementia care organization.
She is survived by her three children, Nestor Davidson of Brooklyn, N.Y., Catherine Davison of London, England, and Anna Davidson Budayr of Orinda, Calif.; and by six grandchildren.
