Mr. Ludwig

Sue Gutknecht: “…who owned the house died. Well, he got very sick and they moved him downstairs to what we used as a dining room, and it was very cold in the house. And, so, when he died, um, a family friend took over that house. Many years later, we moved in, and I was sitting on the couch one day, and a fire lit itself in the fireplace. And, then another time, I was sitting, again correcting papers on the couch, and the tea kettle went off. And, I said to one of the roommates that lived in the house with us, ‘Your tea’s ready!’ She said, ‘I'm not making any tea.’ So, and then consistently, the thermostat would turn itself up. We even had a little sign on it, at what temperature we couldn't turn it over, and it was consistently turn itself up over that but he was, you know, cold. So, we just said, ‘Okay.’ Yeah, Mr. Ludwig.”

Hannah Davis: “That's sweet. So, I mean, did he ever kind of directly interact with you?”

Sue Gutknecht: “No. And, I talked to him, but he didn't talk back. ‘Mr. Ludwig, we can't afford the heat to be up! We're poor college students! Not gonna work.’”