Morgan, Gwen 1915-2008 (Gwen Morgan Veysey)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born 1915, in Chicago, IL; died September 16, 2008, in New Zealand. Journalist, correspondent, columnist, and author. Morgan was an active journalist for more than thirty-five years. She spent most of those years with the Chicago Tribune, but few of them in her native Chicago. Morgan's desk was in England, at the London bureau, an ideal spot for observing and reporting on post-World War II England and the British personalities whose activities headlined the news. Morgan had a special interest in and access to the British royal family and the milestone events of their lives, but she covered political figures as well. She was the only journalist to witness and report on the burial of British political leader Winston Churchill. Morgan also wrote a column, "So That's Why," a miscellany of interesting facts about the oft-forgotten origins of time-honored customs. Morgan retired from journalism in 1975 and spent ten years near the home base of the newspaper, where she and her husband, correspondent Arthur Veysey, managed the country estate of legendary Tribune publisher Colonel Robert McCormick. While there, the couple wrote a biography of McCormick titled Poor Little Rich Boy (and How He Made Good) (1985). Then they moved back to England, and Morgan spent her retirement there and in New Zealand. It was a long way from her starting point in the state of Kansas, where she had begun her career with local newspapers and radio stations. Morgan's journey took her around the world, including assignments in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. She once told CA that she enjoyed the challenge of dramatizing historical events and "writing about individuals who try to do their best."

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, September 29, 2008, sec. 1, p. 33.