Louis Clayton Willis

Louis Clayton Willis, a long time resident of Palm Beach County, died Sunday, March 21st at JFK Medical Center, Lake Worth, Florida after a brief illness. He was the host of “The Clayton Willis Talk Show” on WPBR Radio which featured interviews and commentaries on topical issues. Mr. Willis was well known in broadcasting and journalism for over 50 years. He wrote for a wide range of publications, including The Albuquerque Times, Newsweek, the Hartford Courant, and The New York Amsterdam News and was a writer for the NBC network Tex and Jinx Show, the second talk show broadcast in the US. He also founded the Four Corners Chieftain, a Colorado community newspaper. During his years in Washington, he was the President and Chief Correspondent of the Evening News Broadcasting Company which provided the media with documentaries, photographs, columns, and tapes from the White House. He maintained a life-long interest in the National Press Club and returned to Washington for its prestigious yearly dinners. In addition to his position as a journalist, Mr. Willis worked for several US governmental agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under President Gerald Ford where he was Director of Public Affairs. He was Advisor to the Special Assistant to the President for Hispanic Affairs and also a consultant to the President’s National Council on Indian Opportunity. Mr. Willis’s passion for travel took him to over 100 countries. He was an expert on Haitian art and made over 30 trips to Haiti. He also nurtured a passion for genealogy and American history, and he went to great lengths to find his ancestral homes and distant relations from Germany, England, and Scotland. His knowledge and quick wit made him a dynamic story teller, earning him an invitation to join the Pundits in Palm Beach. Mr. Willis was a graduate of George Washington University and the Sorbonne at the University of Paris. He is survived by his brother William H. Willis, Jr. of Greenwich, Connecticut, his sister-in-law Pauline, six nephews and nieces, 14 great nephews and nieces, and seven great great nephews and nieces. He was predeceased by his sister, Elizabeth Willis Reid and his parents William H. and Elizabeth K. Willis. Interment will be at Spring Hill Cemetery in Easton, Maryland on April 20. Donations to the American Red Cross Haitian Relief Fund in his memory would be very much appreciated.

Louis Clayton Willis

March 21, 2010