Longtime LV hotel public relations director Bray dies

Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2001 | 9:05 a.m.

In the hours following the 1980 MGM Grand fire that killed 87 and injured hundreds, resort officials were -- not unexpectedly -- standoffish with the local, national and international media covering the tragedy.

But with thousands of questions being asked about everything from the hotel's safety record to the events of the day -- which would forever haunt the Las Vegas Strip property now known as Bally's -- one executive needed to be brought forward to speak on behalf of the resort. That man was advertising director Bill Bray.

"He did an extraordinary job of public relations during the disaster," said Jim Seagrave, vice president of marketing and advertising at the Stardust and a longtime friend of Bray. "Bill worked around the clock and not only won the respect of his bosses but also the respect of the news media."

William Bray Jr., who also owned his own public relations firm and early in his career wrote "Personnel Policies and Practices," a leading guide for business leaders and human resource directors, died Oct. 8 in Las Vegas. He was 69.

The cause was not immediately available, but Bray long battled diabetes and in 1982 suffered a heart attack that two years later led to his resignation from his MGM post.

Services will be 10 a.m. Thursday at Garden Memorial Funeral Home, 3600 Vegas Drive. Burial will follow at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

Bray already was a seasoned publicity and advertising figure when he became publicity director of the MGM in 1973. In November 1978 Bray was promoted to the newly created post of director of advertising and public relations. His assistant publicity director, Don Usherson, was promoted to Bray's old job.

Together they fielded hundreds of news media inquiries the day of -- and in the days, weeks and months after -- the Nov. 21, 1980, fire that helped convince state and local lawmakers to institute hotel retrofitting laws mandating sprinklers on every floor, in addition to other safety features.

Seagrave described Bray as a workaholic, not only during that disaster but also in his daily work life.

"It was not uncommon for Bill to put in 12- to 14-hour days," he said.

Born Nov. 24, 1931, in New York City, Bray was an Air Force veteran. He attended Oklahoma State University and San Jose State. In California, he served with the state Department of Employment as an administrator in the job evaluation and employment fields.

It was as editor with the large publishing firm of Prentice-Hall, Inc., that Bray wrote two books that became widely used business manuals. "Personnel Policies and Practices" was acclaimed for teaching bosses how to properly and effectively treat workers. The other book was a communications manual that long served as a guide for civil service agencies.

In the 1960s, Bray founded, edited and published the Nevada Bowling News, the first statewide bowling publication. He also served as head of public relations at the Tropicana and Mint hotels.

In the early 1970s Bray founded Bill Bray and Associates and, in December 1971, landed as his biggest account, the Las Vegas Country Club, where he was in charge of publicity for the $100 million upscale residential development that today surrounds the golf course.

In 1972 Bray was named public relations director at the Landmark hotel, but he left that post for the similar position at the MGM a year later.

Prior to the MGM's reopening in 1981 Bray issued a five-page news release touting the new safety features of the resort.

"Three kinds of smoke detectors will be installed," he said in the document. "Every guest room will have a centrally located conventional smoke detector with an audible alarm."

On July 16, 1982, Bray was rushed to Sunrise Hospital after suffering a heart attack brought on by a blocked artery. While recuperating at the hospital, he tested the patience of his nurses and doctors with his steady stream of visitors, many of whom were bringing him work at his request, and because he was constantly on the phone handling business matters.

But over the next two years, Bray's health continued to decline and he resigned from the MGM in August 1984. Bray remained in public relations with his own firm for several more years before retiring.

A list of survivors was not immediately available.