Meet the Owner
Shawn Carraher, daughter of Linda Goodwin and Alex Levitch, is the owner of Adirondack Camp. Together, Shawn and her parents have owned and operated Adirondack Camp for over forty of the summer camp’s one hundred-plus years.
It all started when Alex attended Adirondack for four years as a boy, igniting his passion for traditional summer camp. He met Linda as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. During their courting years, one of the first places Alex took Linda to visit was to his old Lake George summer camp in New York — Adirondack.
Alex and Linda married, had a baby girl, and began their lives together. With a JD from Columbia Law School, Alex pursued careers in law, international business, and literature. He worked for the US Department of Justice, patented the first folding baby stroller, brokered one of the major airline deals of the 1980s, and penned poetry. Linda balanced work with National Geographic, tagging fish in the Hudson, and raising Shawn. Alex and Linda lived in New York, then Los Angeles while Alex was traveling back and forth to Russia, but their hearts brought them home to New York in the end.
Shawn grew up listening to Camp stories but first discovered our beloved peninsula for herself when she and a friend were out canoeing Lake George on a family vacation. That canoe trip was the spark that ultimately led to a New York Times ad, stating, “Camp was so much fun I bought it!”
Their family was changed forever, and in the ensuing years, Adirondack Camp has flourished under their leadership. Alex said, “Every child is at heart an adventurer!” and this became a cornerstone of Camp’s philosophy. Championing brave hearts, and promising life-changing summers to children, Alex, Linda, and Shawn, transformed The Adirondack Camp for Boys into a fully integrated coeducational summer camp.
Together, they developed a robust arts program, reinvested in Camp infrastructure, launched a scholarship fund, and fostered a new era of environmental stewardship, helping protect the longest stretch of undeveloped coastline on Lake George.
In 2016 Alex and Linda retired and the baton passed to Shawn. Proudly following in her parent’s footsteps, Shawn carries on the dream, oversees operations, and looks toward the future.
Alex Levitch
1944 - 2020
Linda Goodwin
1945 - 2023
I am blessed to work with good people who care deeply about this place and our mission. We all wear multiple hats, working closely together like an extended family, empowering children to know themselves, take responsibility, and live bravely in this world we share.
Shawn, Owner
Shawn earned a BA in Art History at Bowdoin College, as well as a joint MA/MBA from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked as a global energy consultant for over a decade before coming back to camp.
Shawn’s children, Zan and Arion, grew up as campers at Adirondack and continue the family legacy.
A Message to Parents
My father wrote this letter a few years ago. I love it. I stand behind everything he said and wanted to share this with you.
—Shawn
When Linda and I purchased Adirondack some three plus decades ago, I felt as if I had come full circle in my own life. Twenty-five years earlier, I had started out nervously on my own career as a camper at Adirondack, and just three years prior we had rediscovered Adirondack for our daughter, Shawn. She was ten at the time, and I watched her go through the same childhood days of mischief, madcap skits, Blue/White escapades, and coming home deeply proud of her new-found ability to swim two miles without breaking a stroke. Now, here I was buying this same camp Shawn and I had loved as children — and not just any camp, but Adirondack! Incredible! Camp, truly, was so much fun that we bought it!
A good summer camp requires much hard work, and Linda and I are proud of the extraordinary 24/7 commitment made each summer by our exceptional staff from around the world. A great summer camp, however demands even more. It must be, at once, that completely safe place where bold hearts and strong character are built on the wings of outrageous fun, extraordinary friendships and lifelong values, and where young people can be inspired to pursue their true selves within the boundaries of the twin values of individualism and community, and with a sense of purpose and delight.
This is how I remember Adirondack when I was a boy, and this is how Linda, Shawn and I pledge to you we shall keep it!
— Alex Levitch