Bill Linden

Bill Linden, known to colleagues and readers as "Captain Fun," died on September 23, 2026, at the age of 79. For decades he worked as a page designer and art director at the Chicago Sun-Times, one of the people whose daily, often invisible work shaped how the newspaper looked on newsstands and doorsteps across the city.

Outside his newsroom job, Linden was also known in the world of syndicated comics. According to his own biography posted on the website for the comic strip Shoe, he spent part of his career as a <cite index="1-1">gag writer for comic strips</cite> alongside his newspaper design work, and he described a period trying his hand at screenwriting in Hollywood as well. That same short biography, written in his characteristically self mocking voice, noted that <cite index="1-2">when he was not writing gags he could be found photographing Chicago</cite>, a hobby that reportedly became a lasting passion.

Linden's nickname, Captain Fun, appears to have followed him through his newsroom years, a nod to a personality that colleagues and friends remembered as playful and irreverent even as he did the exacting, deadline driven work of laying out pages for a major metropolitan daily. Page designers rarely become public figures themselves, since their craft is meant to be felt rather than noticed, but within the Sun-Times and Chicago's tight knit newspaper community, Linden was evidently a familiar and well liked presence.

News of his death was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, the paper where he spent much of his career, which announced simply that Bill "Captain Fun" Linden, a former Sun-Times page designer, had died at 79. As of this writing, the paper had not yet published a fuller account of the circumstances, and no cause of death, place of death, or funeral details had been made public. This page will be updated as more verified information becomes available.

Because Linden worked largely behind the scenes, much of his personal biography, including his date and place of birth, his education, and his family life, has not been documented in public sources. What is clear is that he left a mark on the Chicago Sun-Times during his years there and was remembered warmly enough by former colleagues and readers to prompt public tributes upon news of his death.