‘ Lioness of Journalism ’
Lucy Morgan , Remembered
by Carmine J . Bell , Ph . D ., PHSC professor emerita
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Distinguished PHSC Alumna ( AA , 1975 ) Lucy Morgan passed away on September 20 , 2023 , at age 82 . Lengthy illustrated obituaries in major metropolitan newspapers described her 50 + years of courageous investigative reporting as a counterpoint to her homespun style , Southern drawl and penchant for knitting . The New York Times dubbed her “ feared and revered .” She “ built a bloodhound reputation for exposing corruption and high-level abuses across the state ,” wrote the Washington Post . The Tallahassee Democrat called her “ a Florida journalism legend .” To the Orlando Sentinel editorialist , she was a “ lioness ” of investigative journalism .
Born in Memphis in 1940 , Morgan ( nee Keen ) grew up in Hattiesburg , Mississippi with no known aspirations for journalism . In 1965 , in Crystal River , Florida , destiny literally came knocking on her door by way of an Ocala Star-Banner editor , who offered Morgan a parttime correspondent job . The local librarian told the newspaper editor that Morgan had read just about every book in the library ’ s collection , so the editor reasoned that such an avid reader would probably be a pretty good writer . Morgan accepted the part-time position , paying 20 cents per word . Two years later , she joined the staff of the St . Petersburg Times , now the Tampa Bay Times .
Morgan was respected for her tenacity and fearlessness , no matter what the consequences .
In 1967 , while investigating corruption in Dade City , Morgan was charged with contempt of court and sentenced to eight months in jail for refusing to name a source .
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