William “Bill” Davis Cornwell, Jr., who began his journalism career at The Decatur Daily in ‘71-72, died of a heart attack at home in Suwanee, Georgia on Easter weekend, 2017 at age 68. He is survived by sister, Eleanor Cornwell of Macon, Georgia; son, William Cornwell III and his partner, Hannah Lewis-Rosenblum of Salem, Massachusetts; daughter, Elizabeth Temkin, her husband, Kris Temkin, and their children, Kinsley, Estella and Henry Temkin of Fort Myers, Florida. Bill was predeceased by parents, Mildred Cornwell and William Cornwell, Sr.
Born in 1949 in Decatur, Georgia, Bill graduated from Decatur High School in ’67. He was a writer or editor for The Birmingham Post-Herald, St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times), Anniston Star, San Jose Mercury News, Tampa Tribune and Florida Weekly. He worked as an editorial voice for Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration and in PR for Burson Marsteller in Dallas and Waste Management in Houston. Bill won many writing awards and his work appeared in The Nation, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Miami Herald, and elsewhere.
Family, friends, journalists and readers grieve Bill’s passing and a memorial reception will be held 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 6 May 2017 in Decatur, Georgia. RSVP to hannahlr@gmail.com.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to Bill’s alma mater, Birmingham-Southern College (class of ’71).
