William Thomas Walker, 70, indefatigable and peripatetic critic whose beat encompassed central, western, and southern NC, died at his home in Hillsborough on December 5, 2019. He was one of the four founders of CVNC.
Bluegrass on the radio and shape-note singing in local churches constituted high art in Wilkes County, where William Thomas Walker grew up, but TV brought Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts. He left the hills for the Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill), attended his first concert in 1969, and earned a BS in Zoology in May, 1971. In 2016, he retired after 44.6 years as Stacks Supervisor in UNC’s Wilson Library and later in Davis Library, an occupation that enabled him to fund his addiction to classical music by collecting recordings and attending 80+ concerts annually. This led to writing for Spectator Magazine and then helping launch CVNC with an “Overview of the 25th Anniversary of the Spoleto Festival USA.” He was member of the Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA.org).
His reviews ‒ 963 of them for CVNC ‒ may be read here. There were still more for Spectator and then a slew of ’em for the BBQ journal cited below.*
He was predeceased by his mother, who was a committed concert attendee. He was the end of his family line. A more formal obit and information on arrangements will follow in due course.
Tax-deductible memorial contributions may be made to CVNC, 3305 Ruffin Street, Raleigh, NC 27607-4025 or online, here: https://cvnc.org/support.cfm.
*Note: Pre-CVNC guest restaurant reviews are compiled in Kent’s Carolina Barbecue Book from what was the #1 ranked Google website from 1998 until its retirement in 2008 with an average of over 10,000+ unique visitors per month.