William Bailey Carter

1951 - 2016

William Bailey Carter

Bill Bailey has

finally gone home...

A bright and creative spirit, William Bailey Carter, departed this life on May 12, 2016, in Beaufort, South Carolina.

Bill Bailey was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, on September 30, 1951, and reared in Benton, Louisiana. After graduating from Benton High School in 1969, he attended Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana, where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order, among other extracurricular escapades that shall remain unmentioned.

After earning his B.A. in Journalism in 1973, he began his ascent in the field of advertising. He started out as an Account Executive at Jack Hodges III Communications under the tutelage of his longtime friend and mentor, Sammy Ducote Davis. In 1977, he launched Carter Advertising from the back of his two-door MG. It would grow to become one of the South's most awarded boutique agencies, helping to nurture the careers of many talented colleagues who have gone on to great success. He was a member of the American Association of Advertising Agencies and NAAN, a contributor to Adweek Magazine, a journalism teacher at Centenary College, and was board president of The Arc, a Shreveport non-profit. He moved to Seattle in 1990, where he worked for the Elgin/Syferd Advertising Agency, and later created Linguis--his own successful virtual agency. He moved to Denver in 2013.

Bill Bailey knew what it meant to miss New Orleans, and was often drawn back to that city as an adopted home. His adventures with his son, Stinson, ranged from hiking the Smoky Mountains and cycling across the Pacific Northwest to backpacking through Europe. With his husband, Jamie, he explored the Greek Isles and the barrios of Buenos Aires, and flew the Concorde en route to an African Safari.

His last adventure brought him back to the South in 2015 to the idyllic town of Beaufort, SC, with his husband and their adored "Welsh Terrorist" dog, Griffin. In the South Carolina Lowcountry, Bill Bailey fulfilled a longtime desire by opening an antique gallery and boutique--Lagniappe.

Through many different life chapters, cities and personal reinventions, Bill Bailey lived every minute of his life to its fullest and then some. He touched the lives of everyone that he was close to. He was a mentor to many and a fiercely devoted father to his son.

He was known in life, and will be forever remembered, as the consummate Southern host, for his wicked humor and intense passion, and for his impeccable taste in all things--especially in his friends and chosen family.

As a writer of everything from thank-you notes, billboards, radio and TV scripts, to short stories, a stage play and memoirs, he was a master of the turn-of-phrase. Four years ago, he wrote his own epitaph, which began with the following:

"For a time, this world was mine. Now it is yours. It is as good and just and loving as you make it. I loved so many, and some loved me. You were my reason to be."

Bill Bailey is preceded in death by his parents, Edward Lynn Carter and Rowena Brown Carter, and brother, Thomas Stinson Carter.

He is survived by his devoted husband, James Slattin Martin IV of Beaufort, South Carolina; son, William Stinson Carter; and daughter-in-law, Susan Burroughs Carter of Charleston, South Carolina; Stinson's mother, Catherine Murrell Carter Davis of Fairfield, Iowa; brother, Edward Lynn Carter, Jr., of San Antonio, Texas; and sister, Aleta Carter Aschwege of Spring, Texas. He is also survived by his nieces and nephews: Julie Aschwege Ferraro, Catherine Clary Sandoz, Jeffrey Simmons Sandoz, Leah O'Connor Sandoz, John Yarborough Sandoz, Val Alexander Murrell, Richard Parham Murrell, and Lise Murrell Huddleston; and beloved cousins including Mary Alice Gibner, Janet Stinson Brittain and Jim Huckabay.

While Bill Bailey loved flowers (well, except for Baby's Breath and Carnations) it would be his preference that those wishing to memorialize him make a donation to Habitat for Humanity, a charity of their choice, or that they simply ask a loved one to enjoy a fine meal together in his honor.