In Memoriam
To say that an actor is all talk would, in most instances, be an insult. But when the actor in question is Harv Morgan, “all talk” is simply a description of — even a tribute to — his life. The local stage performer, who died Nov. 16 of complications following surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm, spent three decades in radio broadcasting and was one of the pioneers of talk radio. Born Thomas Harvey Morgan, the West Palm Beach native broke into the radio field as a sports announcer for hometown station WIRK, between stints with the Army in the late Forties and early Fifties. In the late 1950s, he became program and news director for station WHMS in Charleston, W. Va., and station WMNI in Columbus, Ohio. Then, in the early Sixties, Morgan moved to Cleveland, where he became one of the earliest broadcasters to field live calls from listeners and discuss with them matters ranging from race relations to alien abductions. Given the ubiquitous nature of the format today, it might be hard to imagine it as radical in 1961. But it was, and Morgan helped bring it to a national audience, both in Cleveland and later in San Francisco. In the Seventies, Morgan switched to news reporting, and in 1979 that took him to Tehran, where he covered the hostage crisis for four ABC-owned stations. While on that assignment, Morgan contracted a rare illness that led him to leave the world of radio, but that just gave him more time to spend in the world of the stage. He relocated to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and became involved with the San Miguel Players Workshop, with whom he appeared in numerous productions. In 1994, Morgan moved to Austin, where he sought out more work in the theatre, as well as in movies, music videos, and short films. Among his local credits were Ken Johnson‘s 1999 production of American Realism, Third Corner Productions‘ 1998 revival of Our Town, and, fittingly, The Company‘s 1995 staging of the Eric Bogosian drama Talk Radio. Morgan is survived by his sons, Brian, of Annandale, Va., and Michael, of San Rafael, Calif., and a sister, Virginia, of Fayetteville, Ark. In lieu of flowers, family members request that a memorial gift be made to the Austin Circle of Theatres, 4402 Burnet, Ste. 1, Austin, Texas 78756-3319.
The UT Austin College of Fine Arts and Department of Art and Art History will have a reception celebrating the life of Dr. Marian B. Davis, professor emeritus of art history, on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 5:30-7pm, at the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, Harry Ransom Center, 21st and Guadalupe. Professor Davis, who died Oct. 26, 2000, was an art historian who served on the faculty of the UT Austin art department from 1945 to 1978. In addition to teaching hundreds of students, she served as chief curator of the art museum for several years, was a member of the Society of Architectural Historians and the College Art Association, serving as the latter organization’s director from 1951-55, and authored many articles and reviews for art and history journals. Davis was a member of Open Forum, a contributor to the Austin History Center and Austin Travis County Collection, and a longtime volunteer with the Austin chapter of Recording for the Blind. It was at this nonprofit that I met Davis and came to know firsthand her keen mind and commitment to education. She will be missed. Davis is survived by her niece, Karen Laughlin of Edmonds, Wash., and nephews, Rees Davis of Bearsville, N.Y., and Todd Davis of St Louis. Memorial gifts may be made to the Marian B. Davis scholarship, c/o the Dean of the College of Fine Arts, UT Austin.
This article appears in December 8 • 2000.