William Bonner McCarty William Bonner McCarty William Bonner McCarty, Sr. of Jackson, Mississippi was a founder of the now defunct Jitney Jungle (also known as the Jitney-Jungle Stores of America). ¹"It was (Will) who conceived the idea, and helped coin the name of Jitney Jungle, and who then made plans to install Jitney Jungle stores all over the country." Will along with his two cousins Judson and Henry Holman opened the first Jitney Jungle on April 19, 1919. His son William Bonner McCarty, Jr. served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Jitney Jungle, Incorporated. ¹"Will's father, William Henry McCarty, was a
Ted McCarty McCarty became the first person interviewed for the National Association of Music Merchants Oral History program, a video collection of interviews with pioneers of the music industry. McCarty died in April 2001, at the age of 91. McCarty became the mentor of Paul Reed Smith. Smith found out about McCarty during a visit to the US Patent office in the early 1980s, where he kept noticing McCarty's name among Gibson's patents. Smith later hired McCarty as a consultant, and credits his experience with McCarty as a defining moment in his company. In 1994, Paul Reed Smith's company PRS Guitars, launched