Tyll Sass

Tyll Sass’s young years were filled with the magic of the Adirondacks—long hikes, camping and fishing. It was the freedom and space to be a child, to play and explore miles of wilderness. But his start in life was more harrowing.

Born in Nazi Germany, malnourished and sick, Tyll immigrated with his mother and younger sister to Cincinnati at six years old, in 1947. Tyll arrived with fibrosis of his lungs and legs malformed from rickets. This traumatic start didn’t hold him back, but propelled him to become an Adirondack legend. Or at least, chief Adirondack mischief-maker.

His mother, Anneliese Von Oettingen Sass, was a ballerina. She opened one of the first ballet schools in Cincinnati and was quickly hired by Dr.