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Gus Weill, political strategist, dies in Baton Rouge

Posted at 3:16 PM, Apr 13, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-13 16:16:38-04

Gus Weill, a writer and public relations specialist who mentored many of the nation’s top political strategists, died Friday morning in a Baton Rouge hospice, our media partners at The Advocate report.

LeAnne Weill, his ex-wife with whom he was still close, said he died at about 4:30 a.m., his favorite time of day when he would sit down at his old Underwood typewriter and write for a couple of hours.

Weill, 85, had been in the hospital but was released Sunday, she told the Advocate. 

The son of Lafayette mule salesman, Weill graduated from LSU in 1955 and after a three-year stint in the U.S. Army opened an advertising firm in Baton Rouge. He connected with John McKeithen, who at the time was a Public Service Commissioner, and helped the Columbia native get elected governor. From 1964 to 1968, Weill was McKeithen’s executive secretary and they remained lifelong friends, the paper reports. 

To read the Advocate’s full story, click here