How a ‘Dick Van Dyke Show’ Superfan Became Friends With Dick Van Dyke & Carl Reiner

Barb Oates September 18, 12:00 pm

David Van Deusen, Dick Van Dyke — David Van Deusen

What To Know

David Van Deusen, a devoted fan of The Dick Van Dyke Show, founded the fan newsletter “The Walnut Times” in 1995, which led to close friendships with the show’s cast and crew.
His latest projects include a forthcoming book, an updated documentary and a special podcast celebrating the show’s 65th anniversary, all aimed at honoring and sharing the show’s enduring impact.

“With the initials ‘DVD,’ it probably won’t surprise you to learn that I am a huge fan of The Dick Van Dyke Show,” author and TV historian David Van Deusen once told us. And that was an understatement.

While Van Deusen was born in 1960 (“one day after Carl Reiner‘s Head of the Family original pilot aired”), his general interest in Dick Van Dyke and The Dick Van Dyke Show didn’t form until the early 1990s, when the beloved celeb was christened the chairman of Nick at Nite, and his show ran in endless repeats. That’s all Van Deusen needed — he was hooked.

David Van Deusen

“I investigated the existence of a DVDS fan club and found none to exist,” Van Deusen told us. “So, in 1995, I decided to start a fan newsletter and christened it ‘The Walnut Times’ — a reference to my favorite episode of the show [“It May Look Like a Walnut”]. Other fans recognized the tip-of-the-hat and embraced the publication, as did members of the original cast and crew.”

From there, he started a friendship with Reiner, Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Larry Mathews, and other cast members that turned into a decades-long love letter of sorts honoring their work and achievements. Today, Van Deusen is an active contributor, author, marketer, archivist and historian on just about everything involving The Dick Van Dyke Show.

“I never imagined that simply loving a television series would lead to lifelong friendships with the people who created it,” says Van Deusen.

His latest contribution is threefold — a new digital book, an updated documentary and a special podcast with Mathews for the show’s 65th anniversary.

From Fandom to Friendship: My Memorries With the Dick Van Dyke Show Cast

David Van Deusen

His new book is titled From Fandom to Friendships: My Adventures With The Dick Van Dyke Show (available for presale now) and will officially be released on Sept. 29, 2026. The book is an intimate account of how his passion for the show led to decades of friendship with the people who created it and a mission to preserve its legacy. Mathews and Van Dyke’s son Chris provides the foreword for the book.

“This book isn’t just about The Dick Van Dyke Show. It’s about the remarkable people behind it, the generosity they showed me, and the responsibility I felt to preserve their stories for future generations,” Van Deusen adds.

Every chapter provides photos, fascinating stories, and unusual tidbits of other people’s adoration of the show as well. (Van Deusen gave the Obamas two Walnut Times coffee mugs, and they now sit in Obama’s presidential library.)

In addition to the book, Van Deusen is also reissuing his documentary The Dick Van Dyke Show 60th Anniversary Celebration, which includes new material for the show’s upcoming 65th anniversary.