John Claxton, a deeply admired Chicago advertising writer, creative leader, mentor, and voice actor whose work helped shape some of the industry’s most memorable campaigns, has died. He was 75.
His daughter, Mia Rose Farrell, shared the news on Facebook, writing that her father “passed away peacefully in his sleep this morning.” The family is discussing plans for a celebration of life and will share more information when details are finalized.
Born in 1950 and from Matteson, Illinois, Claxton built a career defined by craft, humility, and a rare gift for language. He graduated from Butler University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in literature, before going on to a long career in advertising that included creative leadership roles at TM Advertising and FCB Chicago.
At FCB, Claxton served for twenty-three years, including as executive vice president and group creative director. He later became known as EVP and writer-in-residence, a title that reflected both his stature within the agency and his lifelong devotion to the written word.
Over the course of his career, Claxton created and authored global branding campaigns for American Airlines, Boeing, Diners Club International, and The Dow Chemical Company. His work with longtime creative partner Doug Behm on Dow’s celebrated The Human Element campaign remains especially meaningful to many who worked with him.
Director Christian Weber, who shot The Human Element campaign for Claxton and Behm, remembered the experience as one of the highlights of his career. “John was one of those rare creative people who combined incredible talent with genuine humanity,” Weber wrote in a tribute shared by Maureen Shirreff. “Working with him and Doug on Human Element remains one of the highlights of my career. It was one of those projects where everyone involved was striving for something meaningful, and John was such an important part of that. I have nothing but admiration and gratitude for him.”
Weber added that the campaign was close to everyone involved and that Claxton “poured himself into it.”
The tributes that followed Farrell’s announcement tell the story of a man remembered not only for his awards and ideas, but for the way he moved through the business.
Susan Drone called him “a very impressive and award-winning writer,” adding that he already had shelves of awards in his office when they met, yet remained “even more humble and kind.”
Doug Behm, Claxton’s longtime partner, wrote, “John and I were partners for many years. He was an amazing writer and even better person.”
Ellen Dreyer, who worked with Claxton and Behm at FCB, remembered him as “a quiet, gentle man, who wrote beautiful words, and appreciated music.”
“He was a poet,” she wrote.
That word appeared again and again in colleagues’ comments on social media.
Joan Black wrote, “He was a poet. His work for OTSC, complete with the choir, was so beautiful. He was so gifted.”
Danny Schuman called him “a kind man” and “a writer’s writer.”
Mike Lyons remembered him as an “amazing writer” and an “even better human,” adding that he felt blessed to have worked with him, learned from him, and simply listened to him talk.
Snake Roth described Claxton as “a kind and sensitive human made up of beautiful poetic words,” calling him “a gentleman deserving of the title Sir.”
Claxton’s love of writing extended beyond client work. In 2011, he founded the Clark Street Bridge School of Writing at FCB Chicago, an in-house workshop that evolved into a multimedia creative experience built around spoken word, projected images, music, and audience participation.
The project reflected Claxton’s belief that writing was not simply a professional skill, but a way of seeing. He often spoke about the discipline of writing, reading, and routine. In a Reel Chicago feature, he said there was “a direct correlation between how much you read and how good your writing is.”
His own routine was famously rigorous. Claxton wrote seven days a week, often rising around midnight to spend two quiet hours with language before the world got noisy.
That discipline helped produce Looking Back, an award-winning FCB Chicago short film for the Clark Street Bridge School of Writing. Claxton wrote and narrated the film, which compared Voyager II leaving the solar system to a child turning back on the first day of school, each looking once more at the world being left behind.
“How do you take an event that was experienced by the whole world and relate it to a simple experience that everybody can relate to?” Claxton told Reel Chicago. “The celestial moment was taking a photo of Earth. The mundane moment was a kid going to school.”
The film described Earth as “a small blue dot in a single beam of sunlight” and concluded that such a moment, if anyone ever asked, was “the definition of art.”
For many in Chicago advertising, that line captured Claxton himself: cosmic in thought, precise in language, quietly emotional in delivery.
His colleagues also remembered his humanity in moments far beyond campaigns. Former FCB president Dana Anderson recalled that after September 11, Claxton helped produce a video celebrating the country, which was shown the next day to welcome people back to the office.
After leaving FCB in 2018, Claxton continued working as a writer and voice actor in the Greater Chicago area. His voice, like his writing, carried warmth, intelligence and restraint.
To those who knew him, John Claxton was not simply a great advertising writer. He was a mentor, collaborator, craftsman, poet and friend. In a business that often rewards noise, he was remembered for quiet grace. In a field built on words, he was remembered for choosing them beautifully.
As Maureen Shirreff wrote, “John was The Human Element.”
He leaves behind a wife of 8 years, friends, former partners, colleagues, students, and a Chicago advertising community that clearly loved him.
Rest in Power, John.
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