Kristin Tillotson

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Tillotson, Kristin Kristin died May 11, 2016, at University of Minnesota Hospital due to complications from septic shock. Born Sept. 10, 1959, in Owatonna, Minn., Kristin was the second of three daughters born to Kay (née Iverson), an elementary-school teacher, and the late John Tillotson, treasurer of the Owatonna Canning Company. She could read by age 3, and a year later she was reading the Childcraft encyclopedias. From the age of 5, she would spend hours at the public library. Called "Rocky" by her father, owing to her stubbornness, Kristin devoured books with female protagonists: "Harriet the Spy," the Nancy Drew mysteries, and especially "To Kill a Mockingbird." She once came home from a confirmation class and sighed, "That Bible: Every other word is 'he'; no 'she' anywhere!" Kristin graduated from Owatonna High School in 1977, and from Iowa State University with a degree in speech communications in 1981. Statuesque, with high cheekbones and ice-blond hair, she was a fashion plate with a daring and sophisticated sense of chic: leopard pillbox hats, little black dresses and long gloves, not unlike Holly Golightly in her favorite movie, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" but she always proudly reminded admirers that she was an Owatonna girl. She was an inveterate and fearless traveler since young adulthood, and lived for a summer on the island of Santorini in Greece, where she once got stuck in a bathroom window trying to sneak out of a bad date. Her later destinations included Rome, Paris, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Mexico and Cuba. She traveled across Europe reporting on a Minnesota Orchestra tour, joined her girlfriends for myriad retreats on Madeline Island and racked up the miles with her mom and sisters across North America and Europe. After stints at Twin Cities nonprofits including Ordway Center, Kristin was hired by the Star Tribune in 1992 to cover fashion. She remained a writer and editor there for the rest of her life, covering topics as disparate as women's health, Somali immigrants and author profiles for the "Talking Volumes" book-club series. In the late 1990s, her "Pop Stand" column about cultural issues was a mainstay of the Sunday Arts section. Her trenchant observations could be outlandishly original, but she was never mean-spirited. In 2001, she was selected as a fellow by the prestigious National Arts Journalism Program at Columbia University. As the newspaper business faced cutbacks that decade, she was less concerned about her own job stability than about the paper's responsibility to maintain its high-quality coverage of the vibrant Twin Cities cultural scene. Kristin's passions were as varied as the stamps on her passports: the compassionate care of stray dogs, of which she adopted several in succession; the fate of higher primates, notably orangutans, in the face of shrinking habitat; ardent support of literature and the creative arts; research and social services to help people on the autism spectrum; and the social enfranchisement of women in every aspect of life and work. Her life was a luminous repudiation of the stereotype of the humorless feminist: Everyone who knew her can hear the echo of her cascading laughter, often at her own foibles. Kristin's friendships were stalwart and lasting, and they stretched across the world. She was an honorary aunt to myriad children. Her survivors include her mother; sisters Kathy Austin of Owatonna and Karin Tillotson of Atlanta; longtime partner Jack Nicora of Brooklyn, N.Y.; niece Katie Austin; nephew and godson Jack Austin, and an extended family of tight-knit friends who will honor her memory by carrying on her tradition of community service and social action based on unshakable principles about the common good. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 21, 2016, at Plymouth Congregational Church, 1900 Nicollet Ave. S., Mpls., with visitation at 12:30 p.m. A reception will follow from 3:30 to 6 p.m. at the American Swedish Institute, 2600 Park Ave. S., Mpls. Memorials are preferred in lieu of flowers, to the Autism Society of MN Camperships (2380 Wycliff St., Suite 102, St. Paul, MN 55114); Aussie Rescue of MN (9031 Mason Ave., Elk River, MN 55330); or to Katy Reckdahl for the college fund of Kristin's godson Hector (707 Independence St., New Orleans, LA 70117).

Published on May 20, 2016