He was preceded in death by his mother, Helen Hibbett (Jones) Carter and his father, Elliott Cook Carter, Jr.
Born on January 4, 1943 in Missouri while his parents were traveling cross-country, David lived a life dedicated to his family, creativity and wit, and advocating for people with disabilities.
David grew up living in a variety of places from Greenwich Village in New York City; Westchester County, NY; Arizona; Rome, Italy; Bloomington, IN; and several places in France. He spent a summer working on a freighter across the Atlantic and another summer working in Spoleto, Italy, on the musical Black Nativity. After attending Yale University and University of Chicago, he taught English literature at Earlham College and later again at Indiana University.
David and Carol lived together on a small farm for 52 years, where they raised cats, dogs, sheep, chickens, cattle, horses, alpacas, llamas, goats, ferrets, parrots, and many others. After a construction accident helping a friend in 1975, David was paralyzed from the chest down and spent the remainder of his life using a wheelchair. He was an ardent civil rights advocate and public official, serving on many Indiana disability commissions and organizations for more than four decades. He created, opened and ran The Spencer Book Shop on the square in Spencer, IN, with new and used books for 13 years.
Some of David’s favorite things were humor, blues and boogie woogie music, teaching himself guitar, wordplay and language games, speaking French, trying new cuisines and recipes, reading a wide variety of well-written books, essays, articles and scripts, creating digital art, and experiencing many of the arts.
Giving him joy throughout his life were Fats Waller, James Thurber, Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, Spike Jones, Terry Pratchett, Asterix books, Tintin books, S.J. Perelman, Louis Armstrong, Walt Kelly’s Pogo, Douglas Adams, Shakespeare, Preston & Child, AA Milne, The Marx Brothers, Tom Lehrer, Joan Baez, Tom Paxton, and Federico Fellini. David was a lifelong learner and enjoyed watching good quality teaching videos, documentaries, and programs.
He will be remembered for his wit, humor, kind heart, sense of justice, honesty, and resilient spirit. He was a deep wellspring of knowledge on a panoply of topics, and loved telling stories and mentoring others. Good relationships with family and friends were very important to him. David enjoyed having an excellent memory for details and loved to reminisce. The big presence he brought to any room will be fondly cherished and missed.
He deeply appreciated and was grateful for the many healthcare workers and people in his life who took the time to get to know him, even a little, and who treated him like a person.
Condolences can be shared online at www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/bloomington-in/david-carter-11346118.
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