John G. Morris

John Godfrey Morris (December 7, 1916 – July 28, 2017) was an American picture editor, author and journalist, and an important figure in the history of photojournalism.

Early life and family background Morris was born on December 7, 1916, in Maple Shade, New Jersey, and grew up in Chicago.

His father, John Dale Morris, born in 1869 on a Missouri farm, was a salesman who started out selling dictionaries, then encyclopedias. He founded a book publishing company named John D. Morris & Company of Philadelphia but went broke during the Panic of 1907. His father later worked for Chicago-based La Salle Extension University that provided extension courses.

His mother, Ina Arabella Godfrey, was the daughter of a doctor in Colon, Michigan. She studied Greek and Latin classics and joined the Grand Tour of Europe before working for John D. Morris & Company. She met John Dale Morris and they married in 1908, giving birth to their first child, a girl, in 1909. The colleagues went into professional careers: Paul Berg became a staff photographer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, John Corcoran for Science Illustrated, Myron Davis for Life, and David Eisendrath for the Chicago Times and New York's PM. There, he was responsible for the coverage of the invasion of France on June 6, 1944 – D-Day, and edited the historic photographs of Robert Capa. assistant managing editor for graphics of The Washington Post in the 1960s and picture editor of The New York Times from 1967 to 1973.

Personal life Morris was married three times, first to Mary Adele Crosby who died in 1964 in childbirth along with the baby. His second wife, Marjorie Smith, died in 1981. His third wife, photographer Tana Hoban, died in 2006. He was survived by his partner, Patricia Trocme from Paris, along with four children (two children from his first marriage and another two from his second marriage) and four grandchildren. He died on July 28, 2017, at a hospital in Paris, aged 100.

Awards 1971: Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award, National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) 1999: International Center of Photography (ICP) Writing Award for Get The Picture: A Personal History of Photojournalism 2002: Professional Achievement Citation University of Chicago 2003: Dr. Erich Salomon Prize Lifetime Achievement Award for photojournalists by the German Society of Photography 2004: Bayeux-Calvados Awards for war correspondents The book was conceived by Robert Pledge of Contact Press Images. It contains the photographs Morris took during his Summer 1944 trip to Normandy, shortly after the D-Day landing on June 6, 1944, and the letters to his wife written "somewhere in France."

Publications edited by Morris Daily Maroon (The Chicago Maroon), University of Chicago student newspaper, 1933–37 Pulse, University of Chicago student magazine, Editor, 1937–38 Life, editorial staff, 1939-46 : New York, Los Angeles, Washington, London, Chicago, Paris Ladies' Home Journal, associate editor (pictures), 1946–52 Magnum News Service, editor, 1961–63 IPS Contact Sheet (Independent Picture Service), 1973–74 The Washington Post, assistant managing editor (graphics), 1964–65 Time Life Books, editor, 1966–67 The New York Times, picture editor, 1967–74; editor, NYT Pictures, 1975–76 Quest/77-79, contributing editor, 1977–79 National Geographic, European correspondent, 1983–89

Publications by Morris or with contributions by him 1957: Tribute. ASMP Picture Annual. Ridge Press, New York. 1966: Great Combat Photos. Text by John G. Morris. Dateline, Overseas Press Club, New York. 1967: And/Or. Preface by John G. Morris. Harper & Row, New York. 1970: An Editor Speaks Out - From the Other Side of the Desk. Text by John G. Morris. NPPA. 1976: World Press Photo 1976. Foreword for annual publication by John G. Morris. World Press Photo, Teleboek bv., Amsterdam 1978: A Gentle Vision: Photographs by André Kertész. Text by John G. Morris. The Sunday Times, October 29. 1985: W. Eugene Smith: Let Truth Be the Prejudice. Illustrated biography by Ben Maddow, afterword by John G. Morris. Aperture. 1986: FD Paris 1986. Introductory chapter of Fodor's 1986 Travel Guide to Paris by John G Morris. Fodor's. 1998: Get the Picture: A Personal History of Photojournalism. Autobiographical book by John G.Morris. Random House. Second edition, University of Chicago Press, 2002. Foreword by William H. McNeill, afterword by John G Morris. . Translated into French (Éditions de La Martinière, 1999), Japanese, Polish (Wydanie pierwsze, 2007), Italian (Contrasto Due, 2011), and Spanish (La Fabrica, 2013). 2004: Robert Capa: D-Day. Texts by Robert Capa and John G. Morris. Point de Vues, 2011: Robert Capa - Traces d'une Légende. Monograph by Bernard Lebrun and Michel Lefèbvre, preface by John G. Morris. Éditions de la Martinière, Paris 2014: Quelque Part en France - L'Été 1944 de John G. Morris ("Somewhere in France - The Summer 1944 of John G. Morris"). Book by John G. Morris, conceived by Robert Pledge. Marabout. 1989: W. Eugene Smith - Photography Made Difficult. Film by Kirk Morris, 89 min (Phaidon, US) 1997: Decisive Moments - The Photographs That Made History. Documentary series by Tim Kirkby and Deboarh Lee for the BBC 2000: Chosen People. Documentary about the 12 People Are People the World Over families. Directed by Seona Robertson (Caledonia, Sterne and Wyld for the BBC) 2002: Guerre sans images - Algérie. Documentary by Mohammed Soudani (Amka Films) 2004: Horst Faas, Heroes Never Die (Los héroes nunca mueren). Documentary by Jan Arnold (Marea Films, Spain) 2004: Taking the Beach. Documentary by John Giannini for ABC News Nightline 2005: Looking for an Icon. Documentary by Hans Pool and Maaik Krijgsman (Nl) 2010: John G. Morris - Eleven Frames. Documentary by Douglas Sloan 2012: Get the Picture. Biographical documentary on Morris told by himself by Cathy Pearson (Ferndale Films, IE)