There wasn’t much in the world Lynne Sandler couldn’t do.

Lynne, who grew up in Swampscott, was the daughter of Claire and the late Larry Sandler, and the sister of Mark Sandler.

As a child, she celebrated her bat mitzvah at Temple Sinai in Marblehead, and was a camper at Camp Simchah.

As a law student at Suffolk University and later as an attorney, she grew into what Mark called a “five-foot hurricane” – a fiercely intelligent and creative woman whose life was shaped by music, justice and a deep concern for other people.

When Mark thinks about his younger sister, the first image that comes to mind is a tiny figure on the basement steps of their Swampscott home, listening intently as his rock band rehearsed.

“We were like 14, she was like 7 or 8,” he recalled. “She would always hang out on the steps, on the basement steps, you know, watching and listening, and I think that molded her, you know, her music – her passion for music.”

Lynne, who was married to Charlie Katz, died in 2021 at the age of 55 of cancer.

In 2022, Mark decided the best way to honor Lynne’s memory was through music. Mark, who has worked as a professional drummer for more than 50 years, organized the first Concert for Lynne: a day of folk, blues and rock music by area bands that also serves as a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Since then, he’s produced the concert every summer.

This year, the Concert for Lynne will be held on Aug. 8 from 1-5 p.m. at the American Legion, 69 River St., in Middleton. There is no entrance fee, and all are welcome. There will be raffles at the event, and all proceeds from the event will go to the American Cancer Society. Also, donations can be made online in the memory of Lynne Sandler to the American Cancer Society at donate.cancer.org.

After earning her bachelor’s degree from Boston University, she worked at the alternative rock station WFNX in Lynn and then entered the record business at PolyGram Records, which had an office in Woburn.

It was at PolyGram that her sense of justice and her love for music fully converged.

“While she was working at PolyGram, she noticed that musicians weren’t really getting a fair shake on things, you know, just all around the board,” Mark said. “So, she decided to become a lawyer.” She continued her work at PolyGram – where she met artists like Sting – and went to Suffolk University Law School at night.

After passing the bar in Massachusetts and New York, Lynne practiced law but also trained as a mediator, working to settle disputes between tenants and landlords.

What followed was a whirlwind of projects that helped define her passion and compassion for people and humanity and took her from Swampscott to San Francisco to Thailand and back to Cambridge. She worked as a project manager in integrative medicine, with the goal of helping to humanize the medical system; she helped build websites; she created an online dating site that matched people who had similar musical tastes; she helped start an early online music streaming service.

Eventually, she became a coach who helped promote workplace civility, and a dedicated yoga practitioner.

For Mark and Lynne, music helped form an eternal bond. That connection will be front and center on Aug. 8 in Middleton, when up to five bands will perform. His mother Claire, who lives at the Satter House in Revere, will greet guests at the door.

Mark believes the music, the crowd, and the cause all revolve around one thing: keeping Lynne’s name alive.

“This event means everything,” he said. “I intend to do it until I can’t do it anymore. It keeps me kind of sane. I like to keep her name alive, want people talking about her, and that’s why I started this.”

He believes, in some quiet way, that Lynne is still part of every show.

“Oh yeah,” he said. “I truly feel when I do this gig that somehow she’s aware of what’s going on. Yeah, I think she’s all over it.” Θ