Longtime K-Stater editor recalls fond memories telling stories of alumni and the university
For more than 35 years Tim Lindemuth ’77 has been telling the stories of K-State and the Alumni Association.
Lindemuth, who was the eighth editor of K-Stater magazine from 1993-2012, has written a little bit of everything over the years in a span that has covered five K-State presidents, 25 bowl games, the establishment of many of the Alumni Association’s programs, and more. Prior to his role as the K-Stater’s editor he covered K-State in the University News division. Even after retirement Lindemuth still contributes to the K-Stater, writing in nearly every issue in some capacity.
“I love to write,” Lindemuth said. “It’s just in my blood. I can think of a 10th grade English teacher that would probably laugh to hear me say that today. Because I got one D in high school, and it was that English class. But I do it because I love to write, it also keeps me connected. It gives me something to do in retirement. I just don’t like to sit still.”
In the past year alone Lindemuth contributed to the K-Stater with stories on the history of limestone on campus; the retirement of Amy Button Renz ’76, ’86 who served as president and CEO of the Alumni Association from 1994-2023; and the opening of Tracz Family Band Hall, among others.
“I have made so many friends through stories that I’ve written,” Lindemuth said. “It still excites me to do that kind of work. I’m very grateful that the Alumni Association allows me to do that.”
So what are some of Lindemuth’s favorite stories he’s written?
The first that comes to mind is that of actor Del Close’s obituary. Close, a former K-State student, appeared in several B movies in the 1950s, 60s and 70s and is best remembered for his work with The Second City improv in Chicago and an appearance in Beware! The Blob. When Close died in 1999, Lindemuth discovered that Close had donated his skull to the Gorman Theatre in Chicago and requested it be used in productions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet with a stipulation that the playbill say “skull provided by Del Close.”
“I thought that was pretty unusual,” he said. “So I called up the director of the Gormin Theatre, talked to him and said, ‘Is this a true story?’ And he says, ‘I'm looking at the skull in a plastic case on my shelf. Yes, it's real.’”
Another story, for the 50th anniversary of Willie the Wildcat, led to the revelation of the identity of the first person to don the costume, Adrea Simmons Andersen '55.
“I was asking people about the first Willie which was around 1947 I believe it was, and nobody knew who Willie was,” he said. “I called up surviving members of the cheer squads. They didn't know. And Willie was right next to them in the yearbook picture. And they didn't know the identity. And I called members of the Purple Pepsters, some of the cheer squads, and asked them if they knew. Willie just showed up one day and was on the field with everybody. I had spent three weeks trying to discover the identity, calling anybody I could think of, until really by freak accident, I was working in my garden, and two of my neighbors walked by.”
In talking to his neighbors about his frustration Diane Dollar ’55, ’67, a retired art professor, told him she knew who it was, but said she couldn’t say. The next day Dollar called Lindemuth to say she’d reached out to Simmons and she had agreed to be interviewed.
Lindemuth’s favorite cover is the February 1997 issue which features three young boys
at the Cotton Bowl with a sign that reads 100% cotton. He took the picture.
“12 years later, one of them became a freshman,” he said. “And his parents wrote me a letter to the editor that I published on the letters page saying that ‘you remember that Cotton Bowl cover? Well, my son is now a freshman at K State.’”
Lindemuth is proud life member of the K-State Alumni Association. He’s hosted Traveling Wildcats trips for the Association and loves to participate in events, especially the Alumni Excellence Awards. The first honoree, Pete Souza ’06, is a personal friend of Lindemuth’s and crashed on his couch when he first arrived at K-State for graduate school.
There are more stories to tell from the K-State Alumni Association and the K-Stater looks forward to having Lindemuth tell them.