Morton told the story of N.C. life

Champion of state dies of cancer at 85

Hugh Morton died Thursday evening, ending a life that encompassed many roles: owner of Grandfather Mountain, unofficial state photographer, tireless tourism promoter, crusader for clean air and conservation, and perhaps the most devout sports fan ever to trot a UNC sideline.

In more than six decades of advancing causes public and private, Morton, who was 85, became known as a formidable force on such issues as development along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the preservation of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. He inspired thousands of schoolchildren to donate nickels and dimes to save the USS North Carolina battleship.

Morton, for many, wasn't a household name. But in a persistent push, Morton did more than perhaps any other person to promote North Carolina's beauty and honor.

"He was truly one of North Carolina's treasures," Gov. Mike Easley said in a prepared statement Thursday night.

William Friday, a friend and former UNC system president, said in an interview that Morton was "probably North Carolina's most effective ambassador when it came to telling the story of the joy of living in this state."

"He'll be an example to people of what you do when you have the talent to serve the state without any expectation of compensation," Friday said.

Once Morton formed an opinion, he was as immovable as the ancient Avery County landmark he owned. As recently as last year, he joined a group of prominent residents opposed to the lottery.

Morton's grandson, Jack, said that when his grandfather was diagnosed in December with cancer of the esophagus, he faced it as though it was an old foe -- the National Park Service of the 1950s and '60s, for instance, or any incarnation of the Duke University basketball team.

"I think he thought this was going to be like a Carolina-Duke game," Jack Morton said. "He thought, 'Well, the doctors are good, and we'll whip this thing.' "

Morton died about 6 p.m. at his home in Linville, with family and his dog, Sophie, at his side.

Entrepreneurial spirit

Hugh MacRae Morton was born Feb. 19, 1921, in Wilmington, son of Julian W. and Agnes MacRae Morton.

His maternal grandfather, Hugh MacRae, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, had gone to the North Carolina mountains in 1885 to mine mica around Spruce Pine. MacRae bought 16,000 acres, including Grandfather Mountain, and developed Linville. In Wilmington, he became president of a cotton mill, head of a power company, founded a bank and developed much of Wrightsville Beach.

Morton's father joined MacRae's companies and helped build homes in Linville through the 1920s and '30s.

At 13, Morton attended a summer camp there that included a photography class, the beginning of a fascination that would open doors for the rest of his life. Over the years, he shot enough pictures to publish several books, including "Hugh Morton's North Carolina," a 2003 collection. Another volume of pictures is to be published later this year.

Morton graduated from Episcopal High School, a Virginia prep school, and at UNC-Chapel Hill shot photos for the newspaper and yearbook.

Morton left UNC without graduating in 1942, when he volunteered for the Army Signal Corps during World War II.

On Luzon in the Philippine Islands, Morton was shooting newsreel footage of an assault when a booby trap exploded, killing one man and injuring Morton and others with shrapnel. Morton received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star.

He was discharged in June 1945 and that December married Julia Hathaway Taylor in Greensboro, her home town.