Edith Lindeman

Edith Lindeman (March 21, 1898 – December 22, 1984), also known as Edith Elliott Lindeman Calisch, was the film and theater critic for the Richmond Times-Dispatch from 1933 to 1964. She is best remembered for writing lyrics to popular songs, in collaboration with composer and Richmond radio announcer Carl Stutz.

Early writings Before joining the newspaper, Edith Lindeman wrote two children's books used in Jewish Sabbath schools, Bible Tales for the Very Young (1930) and Bible Tales for Young People (1934). Based on Old Testament stories, Lindeman wrote these at the request of her father-in-law, Rabbi Edward Nathan Calisch.

Songwriting Collaborating with composer Carl Stutz, she wrote several dozen popular songs in the 1950s. She said she took up songwriting while driving through Kentucky with her husband. While listening to music on the radio, she said to her husband "I could write better lyrics than that." Her husband, who believed that she could do anything she set her mind to, replied "Well, why don't you?" The result was her first lyric, "Curves in Kentucky", which she took to Stutz, then an announcer at powerhouse radio station WRVA. The song never amounted to much, but Lindeman was convinced that she could write something better. She also wrote the lyrics for "Blackberry Winter", which became a back-door million-seller as the B-side of Mitch Miller's recording of "The Yellow Rose of Texas", which became a #1 hit in the U.S. in 1955.

Edith Lindeman was honored by the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1977. She died in Richmond on December 22, 1984.