William Clayton Cotter Jr.

*This obituary was written by William Cotter himself, a former columnist and obituary writer for the Atlanta Journal/Constitution.

A memorial gathering for William Cotter will celebrate life, his and others’, with reminiscences, poems, and songs (please keep Bible verses to a minimum, per request by principal). The service will be at 2:00 pm on Saturday, December 7, 2019 at the City of Pine Lake Beach House at 4580 Lakeshore Dr, Pine Lake, GA 30072. All are welcome, especially if bringing snacks and spirits.

Bill is survived by: loving partner, Salley (as in the classic Irish song and poem by W. B. Yeats, “Down by the Salley (willow) Gardens, my love and I did meet”) Evans of Decatur, GA; son, Chauncey Hall of Ocean Springs, MS; daughter, Heidi Carroll of Camp Hill, AL; grandson, Chance Hall of Rydall, GA; granddaughter, Shannon Hall of Cape Coral, FL; niece, Charlotte Cassidy of Seattle, WA; and best friend from 5th grade, Pascal Grubbs of Hapeville, GA. Other surviving relatives include: niece, Jolie Thompson of Panama City, FL; grandnephews, Joshua Thompson and Daniel Thompson; grandniece, Juliet Thompson; niece, Dawn Ellen Kirkland of South Portland, ME; grandniece, Zoey Whited; niece, Lorraine Kirkland of Wilmington, NC; grandnephew, Zachary Benson; niece, Marcia Deitt of Panama City, FL; niece, Mandi Galina of Missouri, grandniece Cambria Mack; grandnephews, Michael King and Kenneth Holbrook. He is preceded in death by his wife of 40 years, Annette Powell Hall Cotter; son, John Hall; father, William C. Cotter Sr and mother, Adelaide Varner Cotter.

Bill Cotter was born June 6, 1944, D-day. He grew up in Atlanta, mostly the area known as “Midtown” by modern corporate carpetbaggers, but simply called “10th Street” by those who attended Clark Howell Elementary School and Henry W. Grady High School, both on 10th St.

In his youth, Bill worked as a journalist, writing for The Atlanta Journal and other print publications, including The Daily Journal of Elizabeth, NJ, Newsweek Magazine, The Atlanta Gazette and Creative Loafing.
He served in the U. S. Army at Ft. Gordon, GA; Saran, France (an hour south of Paris) and Ft. Meade, MD, all safe distances from the Vietnam War. Thanks to Lyndon Johnson and Ho Chi Mihn, Bill attended Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH on the G. I. Bill. The Army trained him as a teletype operator, a skill that paid better than journalism, and Bill worked the next 40 plus years as a technician and engineer, specializing in computerized telecommunications equipment, systems and applications. Bill served as a Foreign Service Officer with the U. S. Department of State in Cairo, Egypt; Brussels, Belgium and Washington, DC. He was also widely traveled elsewhere in Europe and the United States.
In 2006, Bill was hospitalized with meningitis, in a coma for three weeks, and woke up 100% deaf in both ears. Six months later he received a cochlear implant, which provided him artificial hearing, including the ability to enjoy music again. He loved opera, particularly the Italian composers.

After his medical retirement from telecommunications, Bill became a writer again. He began writing a blog, though he really did not know what one was. His writings as a senior have also been published in “Like the Dew, the online journal of progressive Southern culture and politics”. He often wrote about Flannery O’Connor. His article “The Artificial Flannery O’Connor” was picked up by the website “Comforts of Home”. His story “Abba Dabba Dab” was published in “The Bitter Southerner” and was the only work of fiction to appear in their print edition, “The Bitter Southerner Reader”.

In lieu of flowers, principal suggested financial contributions to innocents.

For additional information please contact the executor of his estate, Salley Evans at 1100 N. Druid Hills Circle, Decatur, GA 30033.

Arrangements in the care of A. S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home and Crematory, Decatur, GA.