Obituaries - June 26, 1999

Hugh Alton Carter Sr.; Georgia Legislator

Hugh Alton Carter Sr., 78, former Georgia state senator and first cousin of former President Jimmy Carter. Carter ran Carter’s Worm Farm and an antiques store in Plains, Ga., both of which became tourist attractions after cousin Jimmy entered the White House. Carter started raising crickets in 1949, using an old coffin as a breeding bed. He eventually expanded into worms and wrote what Life magazine in 1959 called his classic “18 Secrets of Successful Worm Raising.” The self-proclaimed worm king of America later wrote a book about growing up with his famous cousin, “Cousin Beedie and Cousin Hot,” the respective nicknames of Carter and the future president. The 1978 book opened up some fissures in the Carter klan. In it, Carter took a swipe at presidential brother Billy Carter, saying that he was “not a redneck, but he can make money as a redneck.” (Billy Carter was the most entrepreneurial of President Carter’s relatives, making a reported $500,000 a year during the Carter administration on public appearances and endorsements of beer and other products.) Billy retorted that the book was “full of lies” and suggested that the author belonged in a mental institution. Carter also described Lillian Carter, his aunt and Jimmy’s mother, as “domineering” in her relationship with Rosalynn Carter. When Hugh ran for reelection to the Georgia Senate in 1978, he said Lillian and Billy supported his opponent, peanut farmer Malcolm “Chicken” Wishard. Wishard’s campaign literature and a collection box for contributions were displayed at Billy’s gas station in Plains, along with a sign, “Help the Chicken Take the Worm.” On Thursday in Americus, Ga., from complications of pneumonia.