Mississippi blues promoter and raconteur Bill Luckett dies

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Bill Luckett was an attorney, small-town mayor, candidate for Mississippi governor, storyteller, blues promoter and business partner and friend of Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. Luckett died Thursday at age 73, a year after being diagnosed with cancer. Instead of a funeral, his family is having a celebration of his life with free music and entertainment Tuesday. It’s at the joint that he, Freeman and others had owned since 2001 — Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Luckett ran for Mississippi governor in 2011, losing in the Democratic primary. He was elected Clarksdale mayor in 2013 and served one term.