Heinz Kluetmeier ’65

Heinz Kluetmeier ’65 died on January 14 of complications from Parkinson’s and a stroke. Born in Berlin, Germany, he came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when he was 9. He came to Dartmouth at the behest of his father, majored in engineering science, and was president of Psi Upsilon, editor and president of the Aegis, and a member of Casque & Gauntlet. In 1969 he joined Time Inc. to work as a photographer for Life and Sports Illustrated. Covering the Munich Olympics in 1972, he was eating with swimmer Mark Spitz during the terrorist attack. He got up, grabbed his gear, and went to work. His images from those tragic games would endure. More happily, in 1980, Heinz was shooting the “Miracle on Ice,” the Americans’ dramatic upset of the Soviets in that Lake Placid, New York, hockey game. Heinz had a knack for marrying art with science. He was the first to experiment with an underwater camera at the Olympics. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics his underwater image confirmed that Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly by .01 seconds. He listened to subjects and managed to convey what they said into the photos he would then take. Heinz was wonderful company—no matter the context, no matter the hours. He didn’t just know the best places to eat (and drink) the world over; he didn’t just know the owner and maître d’—he remembered some detail about them that made them all feel special.