Hugh Morton, North Carolina Photographer

When Hugh Morton died way too young at age 85 in June, many North Carolinians mourned not only the loss of this irrepressible photographer, developer, environmentalist and Tar Heel promoter, but also the wonderful photographs that Morton might have taken for years more.
Morton’s legacy is an important one. He left us hundreds of thousands of photographs, but also the Battleship North Carolina, the stunning Linn Cove Aqueduct on the Blue Ridge Parkway and an important environmental preserve on Grandfather Mountain. He was responsible in considerable measure for the strong environmental ethic that grew in this state in the last half of the 20th century.
Now he is leaving us another tangible legacy: a new book of photographs published by UNC Press called “Hugh Morton: North Carolina Photographer.” It’s an expansion, UNC Press says, of his earlier book “Hugh Morton’s North Carolina” published in 2003. The official publication date is Oct. 12 – which just happens to be University Day at Morton’s alma mater, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – the day UNC celebrates the laying of the cornerstone of Old East, the nation's first building at a state university, on Oct. 12, 1793. The book will go for $30.
Describing pictures won’t do the book justice, but I’ll tell you his photos of fall foliage are eye-poppers. I especially liked the one of Johnny Cash wrapping himself in an American flag that flew over Grandfather, but maybe my favorite was the photo of the utter delight on a little boy’s face when the ram mascot at a UNC basketball game stooped and reached out to chat with him.
With Hugh Morton, as with his photos, a deft touch and perfect timing were everything.