Willard McKinnon Lewis was born on September 8, 1929 in rural Lamar County, Mississippi between Lumberton and Purvis. After his mother, Alma Swan Murphy, died when he was only three months old, he went to live with his Aunt and her husband, whose family name was Lewis. Following a tour of duty with the U.S. Army, Lewis attended and graduated from what was then Mississippi Southern College (now the University of Southern Mississippi) with a degree in journalism. Lewis married his wife Sue in 1956.

Upon completing his degree, Bill Lewis worked for the United Press wire service from 1952-1956, being headquartered in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Little Rock, and St. Louis. In October 1956, Lewis accepted a position as a From 1952 to 1956 he worked for the United Press, during which he met A.R. Nelson in Little Rock, Arkansas, who offered him a job at the Arkansas Gazette as a general assignment reporter and then as a reviewer. After 33 years at the Gazette, Lewis retired in 1989.