One of the best stories I’ve seen in The Star lately is one written by a Star photographer about a former Star photographer.
Longtime photographer Tammy Ljungblad yesterday posted a story about Roy Inman, who worked for The Star from the late 1960s to the early or mid-1980s. Inman, who lives in Olathe, went on to do very well as a commercial photographer and, at age 78, is still going strong.
I was fortunate enough to work with Inman on one story, a profile I wrote in the early 1970s on the legendary baseball star Ted Williams, who was managing the Washington Senators at the time. The main thing I remember about that interview is that about 30 minutes into it, Williams, who was notoriously testy with the media, turned to me in the visitors’ dugout at Kauffman (then Royals’) Stadium and said: “Aren’t we about through? You’ve got enough to write a book!”
Ljungblad’s story is about Inman convincing Star editors to let him photograph Super Bowl IV on Jan. 11, 1970, when the Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings 23-7.
At the time, Inman was a staff photographer for the Star Magazine, the paper’s former Sunday feature magazine. Inman lobbied with Star editors to let him travel from Tampa, where he was shooting a story on the Kansas City Royals’ rookie of the year, outfielder Lou Piniella, to New Orleans to cover the big game.
The Star had other photographers covering the game, but Inman convinced them he could provide a different perspective by focusing on the atmosphere in and around the sidelines. The editors’ decision to approve Inman’s detour turned out to be very wise.
After Inman got back to Kansas City on Monday, the 12th, he and Robert Pearman, then-managing editor of The Kansas City Times (the morning KC Star), reviewed his photos. Several ran in the Tuesday morning paper.
Below are three of those photos…
Note the uniforms and the wholesome, natural look of these Chiefs’ cheerleaders. Note also how the uniform colors blend with the golden color of the evening sky.
Chiefs’ center E.J. Holub wasn’t a bit self-conscious about his missing teeth as he celebrated the team’s victory. (This was the pre-mouth guard era.)
And here was Quarterback Len Dawson, poised to throw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Otis Taylor. This photo ran on the front page of the Tuesday morning paper.
Finally, here are photos of Inman and Tammy Ljungblad…
Thanks to these two great professionals for bringing us this special story and some wonderful, timeless photos.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
I, too, miss working with Roy. We used to joke all the time about the phoniness of renaming the City Market area the “River Quay,” as If Kansas City had become Paris.
The strategy of not photographing sports action but instead faces on the sidelines, as Roy would be the first to acknowledge, was pioneered by Rich Clarkson at the Topeka Capital-Journal.
Are you saying the cheerleaders of today are not wholesome and natural-looking? :-) Good timing for the upcoming Sunday event.
The late, great Ed McMahon once said on The Tonight Show, to Florence Henderson or a woman like her, “You’re the kind of girl a guy could have some fun with and still take home to meet Mom.” Many of today’s NFL cheerleaders wouldn’t qualify for that category.
Naaawww, surely you jest!
You know that fine, upstanding organization is just giving the fans what they want.
I am always struck by how small the players looked then compared to now. For years, Willie Lanier attended our church in Fairfax County, VA . Other than his broad middle linebacker shoulders, he blended right in with everyone else.