William T. "Bill" Farley, Jr.

Journalist, author and corporate executive William T. "Bill" Farley, Jr., 79, born July 11, 1944 in Yonkers, New York, died October 17, 2023,  in Mount Pleasant, SC. He was the husband of Judy R. Farley of Mount Pleasant. He is also survived by his sister, Joyce Farley Alspach of Tampa, Florida, and his beloved dog, PAL. He is preceded in death by sister, Joan Farley Ward.

The son of William and Flora Rae Farley of Yonkers, Bill was educated at the Horace Mann School in New York City and the Canterbury School in New Milford, CT. He earned his BA from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.

He began his professional career as a newspaper reporter in New York and subsequently served as a news director and on-air talent for several area radio stations including WCBS Newsradio88. He joined the American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. as a network television writer/producer, first with ABC News, where he worked on coverage of major stories including the Democratic and Republican national nominating conventions, the missions of Apollo 11, 12 and 13 and the 1972 Olympic tragedy at Munich, Germany.

He moved to ABC Sports, where his assignments included Monday Night Football, the Indianapolis 500 and the PGA tour. He moved to Los Angeles and ABC's prime time entertainment division, continuing to work on West Coast-based news and sports stories as well as network specials and series such as "Taxi", "Barney Miller" and "The Redd Foxx Show."

Farley was hired by Playboy Enterprises, Inc. in 1981to help launch the company's groundbreaking cable television channel, Playboy TV. He continued to work on special projects for Playboy until 1984 when he returned to ABC to serve as Manager of Information for the nearly 100 nations covering the 1984 Summer Olympic Games on television and radio.

At the conclusion of the Olympic year he returned to Playboy full-time, ultimately serving as Vice President, Marketing, Vice President, Playboy Jazz Festivals, Inc. and President of the Playboy Models/Playmate Promotions agency. During those years he had overall responsibility for all special events parties at the Playboy Mansion and served as principal media spokesman for the company's legendary founder, Hugh M. Hefner.
He retired in 2005 and moved to Mount Pleasant, where he turned his attention back to journalism, writing nearly 200 articles for publications including Charleston Living Magazine, the Moultrie News, and the Lowcountry (Senior) Sun. He was currently writing for Health Links Magazine and Mount Pleasant Magazine.

He is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books, among them "Apollo 11: Man's Greatest Adventure," "The Unofficial Guide to the 1984 Summer Games," the entertainment industry satirical novel, "Sex... In The Crosshairs" and "Team Player," a mystery/thriller.

In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to the National Rifle Association, the Marijuana Policy Project and the Charleston SPCA.

All services will be private. Arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc., Mt. Pleasant Chapel.