Relationships and memorable learning experiences paved a path to success for this Red Raider alumnus.

When King Hill left Texas Tech University all those years ago, he wasn’t sure about much. The future was uncertain. The path forward was uncharted. He was a lot closer to the beginning of his professional career than the end.

That was then, also known as 1975. Vietnam, Watergate and Woodstock were real places with real long-term cultural impacts. The age of innocence was slowly evaporating, replaced by a generation unafraid to ask hard questions and challenge existing norms.

The times, they were a changin’, to paraphrase the poet’s words from a decade earlier.

And maybe King saw this as he finished his bachelor of education degree while also gaining critical experiences in theater and media along the way. By the time it was over, the five-year educational journey in Lubbock had left an undeniable West Texas imprimatur upon him.

It would be in the Panhandle, though, where King would rule, so to speak, but it was at Texas Tech where his irrepressible character was forged and the necessary accoutrements of success acquired.

“Coming to Texas Tech was a life-changing event for me,” he recalled. “The people, the students, the faculty, they inspired me and propelled me to explore and find my direction.”

For King, the direction from Texas Tech was due north. He had arrived on campus from Amarillo. The university had the appeal of a known quantity as three cousins had attended. One of King’s uncles was a Lubbock businessowner. It was a place, just far enough from home, where he could dive into the necessities of becoming who he hoped to be.

Finding Himself at Texas Tech

Ultimately, he couldn’t resist the gravitational pull of Amarillo and returned to begin a journey that still continues today. In addition to a 31-year career teaching theater at a handful of high schools, he also is a successful playwright and author. 

Additionally, he serves as the public information officer for River Road Independent School District (located on the north side of Amarillo) in addition to handling media and public relations duties for several other community arts-related organizations.

Truth be told, he has become something of an Amarillo icon, although he is quick to deflect such praise, especially on this unseasonably cool, semi-rainy day rendezvous at a noisy coffee shop in the shadow of ceaseless Interstate 40 traffic.

King is doing what a lot of people do when they reach a certain age. He is looking back and taking inventory of how the past shapes the future, and in his case, how his Texas Tech story made virtually all his own aspirations possible. 

The measure here is not success, which can be easily quantified, but significance, a little trickier and subjective matter.

From the first day on, it was an adventure. Texas Tech was smaller and the community more compact in those days, but the campus was bustling with activity and construction.

It was (and still is, by the way) a great place to be.

King was the second in his family to attend college. His older brother went to Yale, so that’s what King built his expectations around when he began his first day of classes in a blue blazer, precisely knotted necktie and briefcase.

To say he made an impression would be an understatement.

“Texas Tech was wonderful, but it wasn’t like Yale,” he remembered with a smile. “The professor in my first class took one look and said, ‘You’re either a narc or you’ve been sent from the provost’s office to check on me. Which is it?’”

He was neither an informant for law enforcement nor the provost, just a young student trying to navigate campus. As it turned out, that professor and many others throughout King’s Texas Tech days would become first a mentor and later a friend.

“I transitioned very quickly out of wearing a suit and tie and into wearing jeans and work shirts and becoming more adept to the culture,” he said.

King might have been fitting in then, but one aspect of his character has never changed.

“Above all else, he is a gentleman,” said longtime friend Jim Rambo, who was a graduate student at Texas Tech then. “He really is someone who demonstrates compassion and professionalism.”

The Impact of Texas Tech

King reflects with fondness on a montage of Texas Tech academic influences from Bill Dean in the journalism department (now journalism and creative media industries) to Ron Schulz, Clifford Ashby and Larry Randolph in the theatre and dance department, which is now its own school within the J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“Dr. Schulz’s accolades and his renown are legendary and timeless,” King said. “The lessons I learned from him in terms of how to stage a show, how to be disciplined, how to train an actor, how to direct a show, I couldn’t have gotten that education at Julliard.”

As a freshman, King had a lead role in Texas Tech’s production of the Shakespeare tragedy “Troilus and Cressida.” Between classes and theater work, he also was a DJ at several Lubbock radio stations, including KSEL-FM (top 40 format) and KLLL-FM (country).

The KLLL gig was one King took despite possessing little knowledge of country music. This became readily apparent when he used rock ‘n’ roll (“dig this”) language to introduce a Charley Pride song.

“The boss called and told me to meet him for breakfast the next morning,” King said. “He told me I was going to school, and he got one of the program directors to educate me in the genre, which I fell in love with.”

It should come as no surprise that King would devote himself to teaching following the great impact so many teachers had on him at Texas Tech. For more than three decades, he shared his knowledge and his passion for learning with young people, inspiring them as he had been inspired.

The last stop was at River Road, but after he retired, district officials made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, asking if he would handle public relations with the various stakeholder groups.

“I retired, allegedly,” he laughed. “And they called me and said the school board would like to talk to me, and they wanted to see if I was interested in becoming their public information officer.”

While life in the theater has been rewarding, writing has also been a long-time creative pursuit. He wrote his first show at age 15.

The Influence of Texas Tech

It was a sign of things to come.

“I am thrilled for his success,” said Rosendo DeLeon, who along with King was in a 1972 Texas Tech production of “A Man for All Seasons.” “Having good friends like King helped me do everything I did while I was at Texas Tech. I can tell he works hard at everything he does.”

Another friend from those days describes King as “a force of nature.”

“I’ve followed his career and just known him for a long time,” Don Shipman said. “I have always been fascinated by his ability to never really slow down.”

King has written productions for the Lone Star Ballet in Amarillo, including “Remember the Alamo,” which he penned with the objective of including the points of view from both sides involved in the most famous battle of Texas history. 

The idea was conceived while at Texas Tech.

A devoted student of Texas history, King has a show about Palo Duro Canyon scheduled to debut in February. Along those lines, he’s also working on a series of pieces highlighting the people, history and culture of the Texas Panhandle scheduled to air on local media starting in September.

And, oh, he has recently finished his fourth novel, a couple of which draw upon his life and times as a Texas Tech student.

Starting with “The Butterfly Decision” in 2021 and followed by “Under Patchouli Skies” two years later, he has since written “Secrets: Playing With Fire,” and just wrapped up “Lost and Found,” which is scheduled to be available in August.

What’s it like seeing your name on the cover of a published book?

“Intimidating, really,” King responds, not missing a beat. “I like to see it, but by the same token, there is a lot of expectation. If anybody sees this and they like it, my name’s attached to it, but if they don’t, I worry I didn’t fulfill what I should have done as a writer.”

The Next Chapters of Life

As they say, what goes around, comes around, and for King, he is enjoying a full-circle moment immersed in how Texas Tech animated his potential, equipping and launching him to see his ambitions realized.

“I didn’t expect professors to ask me what I wanted to do with myself,” he said. “It was like nothing I had ever experienced, and it was one for which I am incredibly grateful. It shaped me in more ways than I could ever count, even ways that I am still discovering now.

“As corny as it sounds, Texas Tech was transformational on a myriad of levels. Personality. Lifestyle. Education. I don’t think I could have gotten a comparable education anywhere like I received at Texas Tech, simply because of the foundation of the professors and how they took an active interest in me and my life.”

King is still looking ahead, thinking about what’s next. The idea of retirement, once almost a reality, remains somewhere out there on the Panhandle horizon.

“They will carry me out by my boots,” he said. “I won’t retire. I like challenges, and I enjoy life. I want to engage with it and be engaged by it.”