A chance meeting with representatives from Mademoiselle in the early ’60s launched Ginny Rather’s nearly 50-year modeling career.
Rather loved horses and taught horseback riding during her summers in college. She didn’t intend to pursue a career in equestrian sports, but neither did she plan to be a model, said her husband Dan Rather.
“She did the modeling to support her riding interests,” he said. “But someone from Mademoiselle picked her, and that’s how it all got started.”
In 1965 Rather, an Atlanta native, graduated from Hollins College, in Virginia, with a bachelor of arts degree and returned home. She started runway and print modeling for every major Atlanta department store, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s and Rich’s. Her last shoot was in the spring of 2012, a couple of months before she was diagnosed with ALS.
Virginia Carvel Carnes Rather, known as Ginny by most, died Thursday at home from complications of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. She was 69. A funeral was held Monday at the Cathedral of St. Philip, and her body was buried at Westview Cemetery. H.M. Patterson, Spring Hill, was in charge of arrangements.
Rather balanced modeling and motherhood, and even single-parenthood, during her career. Her daughter Carvel Gould remembers a behind-the-scenes life that wasn’t the glamorous one many imagine. It involved a lot of running through malls, rushing from place to place and lugging around shoes and makeup.
“When I was in kindergarten we went to the mall on a field trip for some reason, and when I got in the mall, I took off running,” Gould said, with a laugh. “The teachers couldn’t understand, and they told me I had to walk, and I said, ‘No, you are supposed to run.’ Later my mother had to explain that when I was with her, I did have to run through the mall.”
Rather’s friends and family said she was very selective about the kinds of modeling work she did. She was known in the industry for her personal style and fashion sense, said Marilyn Sparks, a longtime friend.
“I can tell you, they booked her not only for her beautiful smile, but they loved her wardrobe,” Sparks said. “They often loved what she wore to the job more than what the stylist would pick out. And she styled herself so perfectly that the makeup artist couldn’t improve upon it.”
One of Rather’s philosophies was to never pay someone to do something she could do herself, Gould said. That included manicures, lawn work, and waxing floors.
“When she was single she’d get on the roof and clean the gutters,” said Dan Rather, her second husband.
The Rathers met at the home of a mutual friend and married 18 years ago; their blended families added to the joy of their union.
“Ginny was a unique person,” he said. “She was very much in control, not of other people, but of herself and the environment around her.”
In addition to her husband and daughter, Rather is survived by a son, Stuart Ellis Gould of Rumson, N.J.; stepsons, Daniel Rather of Sewanee, Tenn., and Pratt Rather of Bend, Ore.; brother, William Stansbury Carnes; three grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.
About the Author
