SALTof the CITY
Signs of the Times Written by JESSICA LYNN CURTIS Photography by KATIE M C GEE
WHAT DEFINES A SAVANNAHIAN? Is it simply a matter of birth? Or is it also someone who chooses Savannah for more than half of his 88 years — not only chooses it, but pours his heart and soul into doing all that he can for this city that he loves? Dick Estus may be Binghamton, N.Y.-born, but he considers himself a Savannahian. “I’ve been here more than I’ve been anywhere,” he says, though he arrived by a circuitous route. Estus made his career in out-of-home advertising (think advertising that you see outside, like billboards, wallscapes and posters), going to work for General Outdoor Advertising upon graduation from Bucknell University. His job moved him to Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Penn., Utica, N.Y., and Richmond, Va., which is where he met his wife, Sue. When Turner Outdoor Advertising came to the Richmond area, Estus found himself working for Ted Turner’s father, and eventually a then-24year-old Ted. He spent the next 15 years in Atlanta working for Turner before deciding he wanted his own company. Estus received a job offer in Savannah in 1971 and ended up buying the company. This July 1, after 63 years in the business and having sold and re-started his company, Estus Outdoor, three times, he truly retired at age 87. We most likely all saw Estus’s billboards in and around Savannah, but that’s just the beginning of what he’s contributed to our city. On the ride home from a trip to Williamsburg, Va., decades ago, Estus mused about how Colonial Williamsburg is all a re-creation. “Savannah is the real thing,” he recalls telling Sue. “They need to take advantage of it!” Estus spent much of his first year here helping Savannah to do just that. At the time, Florida-bound traffic bypassed Savannah, and the routes that did enter
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