Guy E. Munger of Raleigh, age 87, died peacefully in his sleep on Feb. 14, 2012. A lifelong journalist, he worked for the Raleigh News and Observer for more than three decades, mentoring many younger reporters until his retirement in 1989.
Born in Ottumwa, Iowa in 1924, he grew up in Oak Park, Illinois in an Irish Catholic depression-era household that valued education and reading. After serving with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a weather specialist stationed in China during WWII he graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism. In 1946, he married his first wife, Helen Smith of Lexington, NC. The couple had two children before Guy lost his young wife to breast cancer in 1953. In 1956, as a reporter for the Greensboro Daily News, he met and married a fellow reporter, Joan Taylor Munger. Their blended family lived in Honolulu for several years, where Guy worked for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin before moving back to North Carolina. The Munger household would eventually grow to include six children, Guy’s father and numerous basset hounds, with a permanent home on Park Drive in Raleigh’s Cameron Park.
Guy was awarded a Niemann Fellowship for journalistic excellence and attended Harvard University in 1955. In the years that followed, he served as city and Sunday editor of the N&O and eventually book editor. His deep love for North Carolina authors showed in his support and coverage of their work. Both he and his wife, Joan, worked passionately for political change, volunteering on the Adlai Stevenson and Kennedy campaigns, and enlisting their children as door-to-door canvassers. His “Last Angry Woman” columns for the N&O chronicled Joan’s passion for social justice, while his own political contributions included penning the “N is for Nick” campaign song for Nick Galifinakis in 1965.
Guy was a deeply sociable man, who enjoyed meeting new people of all ages. He played a significant role in his children’s lives, providing much of their daily care and taking in any stray friends who needed a home. He was always a soft touch for the down-and-the-out and never turned away someone in need. Guy had a passion for the theater and was very active during the heyday of the Raleigh Little Theatre. He was the author of “Curtain Up! Raleigh Little Theatre's First 50 Years” and edited a number of books by fellow N&O columnists and cartoonists. A self-taught pianist, Guy’s lifelong love for music included the ability to play any Gershwin, Sondheim, Bacharach or Cole Porter tune by memory. As a child, he sang and carried spears in the chorus of the Chicago Opera. Highlights of his life included the production of his original musicals, “That’s Life” and “Stop the Presses!” The New Year’s Eve parties he and Joan gave were legendary gatherings of political, artistic and architectural leaders, activists and aspiring bon vivants. Following the death of his wife, Joan, Guy met the third love of his life. He and longtime companion, Barbara Absher of Knightdale, remained devoted to one another until his death on Valentine’s Day.
Guy was preceded in death by his wives, Helen Smith Munger and Joan Taylor Munger, as well as his eldest daughter, Terry Desantis. He is survived by a son, Guy David Munger of Raleigh; four daughters: Helen Berkey, Katy Munger, Bridget Munger of Raleigh and Mary Munger Taylor of Coronado, CA; six grandchildren: Amy Quintard, Katy Strait Chavez, Samuel Jeffers, Julia Taylor, Mary Christina Taylor and Zuzu Feller; and, two great-grandchildren: Terry and Nathaniel.
A funeral mass will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in downtown Raleigh. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Guy’s memory to Catholic Charities USA or the North Carolina Writer’s Hall of Fame, c/o Weymouth Center for the Arts, Southern Pines, NC.
