Linn was a schoolmate of Barack Obama at Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii (both graduated in 1979). She was quoted in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, saying that the future United States President had a "cute afro" and that he "dressed like John Travolta." She added that she thought Obama wasn't very good at tennis, "or we would have played tennis together", since she knew the good tennis players in Hawaii.[17]