John Edward Carter died peacefully in his sleep the morning of July 23rd in Lincoln Nebraska. John was Senior Research Folklorist and Associate Editor for the Nebraska State Historical Society, an institution for which he worked for almost 40 years.
Born on November 1, 1950, John received his B.A. from Nebraska Wesleyan University and his M.A. in American Folk Culture from the Cooperstown Graduate Program, State University of New York. He authored the book Solomon Butcher: Photographing the American Dream, was co-author of Eyewitness at Wounded Knee, and published numerous articles in both scholarly and popular journals. John was a scholar/consultant for many documentary films, including several produced by filmmaker Ken Burns. He was principal researcher for the documentary Beef State, produced by the Nebraska State Historical Society and Nebraska Educational Telecommunications. And John was a well-known and much-requested speaker on almost any aspect of Nebraska (except Cornhusker football).
But more importantly, John was generous with his knowledge, enthusiastic in his work and play, and had a deep and abiding love for the history and culture of Nebraska. His friends and colleagues remember him as “big in heart, soul, intellect and contribution”, “extraordinary”, “irreplaceable”, “generous, genuinely witty, hugely intelligent and learned”, and simply “a good man.”
John’s friend Roger said, ‘I have never known anyone more full of life than Boom John Carter. It would never have occurred to me that John could die because he was just too full of life and would never have found time for such nonsense. Or more precisely, he had far too much nonsense to take care of that he would never have bothered to schedule time for death.’
John is survived by his wife, Ann Billesbach, brother Steve Carter (Shala, and nephews Joe and Josh), sister Martha Carter (Kay Pinkley), niece Stacey Miller, brother-in-law David Billesbach (Jennifer Bauman), uncles Phil Jenkins and Pete Theisen, Aunt Jean Ruane, and many cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ed and Shirley Carter, and brother Doug Carter.
A Celebration of John’s Life will be held Friday afternoon, July 30, details pending.