With sorrow and grief, we are sharing of the passing of musical visionary and founding director of Lotus Education & Arts Foundation, Lee Williams.

Lee Williams Obituary written by Andy Graham

Lee Williams’ many friends from Indiana University dorm days would tell you he broadened their musical horizons from the moment he moved into Read Center bearing crates of vinyl.

His many Bloomington community friends could later say the same, because he filled his beloved adopted hometown with song during a dazzling, decades-long career in music promotion, most notably through his spearheading the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival from its 1994 inception till his 2017 retirement.

Lee was also a pinball wizard, a euchre savant, a collector of brass rubbings, a loyal IU Hoosier fan, a lover of Golden Retrievers, a happy lover of life and a devoted partner to his wife of 40 years, Carol Simmons.

Born Aug. 6, 1957 in New Albany, Ind., the son of an Air Force NCO, Lee lived throughout Europe and the United States before returning to graduate from New Albany High School and IU-Bloomington. Much of his youth was spent in England. This made him not just a lifelong Anglophile, but also a skilled soccer player whose soccer-honed footwork made him the best freeform dancer ever beheld in Bloomington clubs.

Lee began his music promotion career by booking memorable shows at former venues Second Story and Jake’s in the 1980s and 90s. He had expansive, educated musical tastes and an unerring ear for talent. The first show he ever booked, in 1982, featured British folk-rock icons Richard and Linda Thompson. The second was an unknown outfit from Athens, Ga., calling itself R.E.M.

Just some of the artists that Lee later brought to Bloomington:

Wilco, Lyle Lovett, Sheryl Crow, John Prine, Arlo Guthrie, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Leo Kottke, David Grisman, The Replacements, 10,000 Maniacs, Marshall Crenshaw, Robert Cray, Koko Taylor, NRBQ, Rick Wakeman, Joe Ely, Smithereens, Matthew Sweet, the Blasters, X, Jimmy Cliff, JJ Johnson, Tori Amos, Jerry Jeff Walker, Counting Crows, k.d. lang, Donovan, Tracy Chapman, Buzzcocks, Robyn Hitchcock, Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick, June Tabor, Guadalcanal Diary, Rick Danko, Gillian Welch, Uncle Tupelo. There were many, many more.

Lee also had a long-running Celtic music show at WFHB Community Radio called “The Old Changing Way.”

But Lotus remains Lee’s primary professional legacy. He co-founded the annual festival and its parent nonprofit organization, the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation, serving as executive director from 1995 until 2014, and as artistic director through 2017.

Under his direction, Lotus not only delivered delectable and diverse music but also fostered a sense of community and cultural exchange. The vibe was as mellow as it was pervasive, as patrons could catch a slew of superb artists within easy walking distance at intimate venues downtown. “Happy Lotus!” was a customary greeting among fans.

And under Lee’s leadership, the nonprofit developed Lotus Blossoms in 2001, educational outreach which brought festival artists to local schools.

Professional acknowledgment of Lee’s work with Lotus included:

Ivy Tech-Bloomington’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2016), which noted that in addition to his shepherding Lotus, Lee “was instrumental in founding the Buskirk-Chumley’s BCT Management, Inc., and his advocacy was instrumental to its success”;

Indiana University’s Distinguished International Service Award (2018), for which IU’s Office of the President highlighted Lee’s “pioneering global vision and Lotus legacy [that] have inspired hundreds of thousands of people since the organization’s inception, including bringing the world to over 140,000 K-12 students through Lotus educational outreach”; and

New York City-based globalFEST’s Pioneer Award (2019), which honored Lee as a nationally recognized “champion of world music,” citing his instrumentality in forming the Midwest Consortium, a network of world-music presenters across the United States and Canada.

In 2013, the City of Bloomington proclaimed Sept. 26 “Lee Williams Day,” and then-Mayor Mark Kruzan said, “One thing Lee Williams might not even think about himself is that he is one of the community’s leading economic developers … bringing in an incredible amount of dollars over the years, as thousands of people come into town [for Lotus]. They all, then, become ambassadors for Bloomington – [and] go home and tell the story of this incredible community that has a world music festival.”

Lee received his Alzheimer’s diagnosis while still in his 50s; the disease finally took his life Jan. 11, at age 68. He received extraordinary care from the staff of Richland Bean-Blossom Health Care and IU Hospice, to whom the family sends its profound thanks. He is survived by his wife Carol; his sister, Dena Williams; nephew David Lugo and niece Susan “Nikki” Lugo-Floro (Ian). He was preceded in death by his mother Agnes “Joyce” (Day) Williams and father Jack Lee Williams, Sr.

Even as he came to grips with his diagnosis, Lee didn’t surrender his basic good cheer. He was quietly courageous and never complained. Lee explained to friends that he’d had a wonderful, lucky life wherein he got to make his passion for music his profession, doing so in a place he loved, among people he loved. And he felt lucky to leave a legacy in Lotus, truly a crown jewel for his community.

His town, his friends, his loved ones — and generations he will never know – are better for his having lived.

A memorial service celebrating Lee’s life will be announced at a later date

Donate to Honor Lee