Biography: Hunter Waite Gray, 73, died Aug. 7, 2024, at home after a brief illness that seemed minor. He was born on Nov. 14, 1950, in Dallas, Tex., to John Hollister Gray, who helped launch the Wall Street Journal Southwest Edition, worked public relations for Lion Oil, and went on to become an Episcopal priest, and Martha Kate Newman Gray, a former Neiman-Marcus model and war-time draftsperson on the P-1 Mustang project.
 
Hunter’s childhood was full of classic precocious boyhood adventures--bikes and boats and mischief. He invented “petrified water,” floated tiny canoes in finger bowls at a fancy dinner and managed to break the State Seal of Texas on a visit with his father to the legislature.
 
After Dallas the family moved to El Dorado, then Austin, Tex., then Blytheville, all places full of wonders for a kid of his era raised “free range.” When he was in elementary school, the family moved to a renovated apple barn in New Jersey near the former workshop of Thomas Edison, which was still filled with interesting artifacts to explore. His father sometimes took him into New York City, where they ate anchovies out of a jar on the steps of the New York Public Library and sailed a model wooden boat (bought on the docks) in a Central Park pond. That boat and its 8-foot mast still dominate Hunter’s living room.
 
Sailing was part of the fabric of the Gray family. Hunter made his first solo sail off the coast of Maine when he was nine and was lost overnight in a storm. The whole town turned out to cheer when he safely made his way to shore the following morning.
 
The next stop for the Grays was Hattiesburg, Miss., where Hunter graduated from high school and, after trying a few other colleges, earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Arts, Advertising and Architectural Technologies from the University of Southern Mississippi. Hunter had many Mississippi stories, including driving a school bus (while still a teenager) back and forth to the coast to move people inland as part of the Hurricane Camille evacuation efforts. He rode a Triumph, drove an MG and hit the timing jackpot of American youth culture.
 
His company, Hunter Gray Associates (HGA), was a quiet but solid fixture in the Little Rock advertising community for more than 50 years. He and his team accomplished many “firsts and onlys.” He marketed the first residential condo project in the state and was pivotal in implementing a public utility model paramedic-only ambulance system for Central Arkansas. HGA was agency of record for the launch of a subsidiary of a major Wall Street firm, the first to be handled by a non-New York agency at that time.
 
Hunter’s unique way of viewing the world and understanding client goals not only benefited clients but usually turned them into lifelong friends. One of his favorite campaigns was the wildly successful Coats for Kids, which he spearheaded for 16 years and which netted more than 150,000 coat donations.
 
Hunter lived the Macintosh way. Before the Mac was invented, he was the first person in Arkansas to own its predecessor, the Lisa. The story goes that he saw the double-click-on-an-icon interface for the first time at a demo and blurted out “I’ll take it!” Before there was an Apple Store in Little Rock, he was the go-to guy for Apple product news and tech support.
 
Quirky and curmudgeonly, he loved snow, bacon, sailing, archery, good design, and working (at his computers, not like manual labor). His ringtone was “Let it Snow.” His default setting was superficially grouchy. He was known to pontificate on any number of topics. He had a great giggle. He could not keep a plant alive and in later life considered any trip out of his zip code an epic adventure. The things he left undone include hanging his art collection on the walls of his downtown condo (couldn’t commit in the first 18 years) and three bucket list items: eating soft shell lobster, going to the Paris Air Show on a VIP pass, and standing in snowfall in a golden aspen grove.
 
He is survived by his sister, Jan Hollister Gray Green, of Pensacola, Fla.; nieces Paige Funk and Laura Yalcin (Ali), and nephew, Wes Green (Stephanie); their children and grandchildren Brennan and Kendall Funk, Kaya Yalcin, Everly and Wyatt Hunter Green, and Mason Moss; and many dear friends (you know who you are). If Hunter picked you to be in his life, he attached to you like a barnacle.
 
No service is planned. Friends and associates will be invited to gather and compare stories soon. Memorials may be made to Historic Arkansas Museum or Heifer International. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com