Don Lindner - Inducted 2002

Born Feb. 25, 1931, in Watertown. Grew up in Kranzburg. 1949 Goodwin High and 1954 South Dakota State grad. Sports editor of the Rapid City Journal for 37 years, Lindner was named South Dakota Sportswriter of the Year a record 11 times by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Lindner got his start with Al Neuharth's SoDak Sports, a weekly statewide publication. After a stint as news editor at the Madison Daily Leader, Lindner began his sports editor career at the Watertown Public Opinion. In 1959 he moved to the Rapid City Journal. He was known for his fairness and writing and editing skills while battling deadlines. He retired in 1996. It would be difficult to find a sports department whose staff was as loyal to its sports editor as the Journal. In one 15-year stretch the sports staff had not one defection. Three members of the Journal sports staff worked with Lindner for 20 or more years: Ron Wood (37 years), Roger Toland (32) and Steve Donnelly (20). As Wood wrote: "Don didn't demand loyalty. It gravitated to him." Lindner was one of the founders of the South Dakota Sports Hall of Fame. The South Dakota High School Activities Association awarded him its Distinguished Service Award and twice he received the South Dakota Coaches Association sportswriter of the year award, the only person to be honored twice. Lindner is a member of the South Dakota Amateur Basketball, South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference and Rapid City Halls of Fame.