Edmund Morris
Edmund Morris: A Life of Biography and Reflection
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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Edmund Morris was a South African-American biographer, novelist, and essayist. His full name is Edmund Walter Morris.
Birth and Death Dates
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Morris was born on May 25, 1940, in Johannesburg, South Africa. He passed away on September 29, 2022, at the age of 82.
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Born in South Africa, Morris became a naturalized American citizen in 1993. Throughout his career, he worked as a biographer, novelist, and essayist.
Early Life and Background
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Morris grew up in a family that valued education and literature. His father was a mining engineer, and the family would often travel between South Africa and England during Morris's childhood. This upbringing instilled in him a love for language, history, and culture.
Morris developed an interest in writing at an early age and began composing stories and poetry while still in primary school. He attended St. John's College in Johannesburg before moving to the United Kingdom to study English literature at Exeter College, Oxford University.
Major Accomplishments
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Morris is best known for his acclaimed biography of President Ronald Reagan, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan (1999). This work spent 10 weeks atop The New York Times' bestseller list and earned Morris the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. He also wrote The Rise of Roosevelt, a dual biography of Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Morris's literary output extends beyond biography to include novels, such as If I Only Had Time (1999), which won the 1999 Commonwealth Writers' Prize. His essays have appeared in various publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Harper's Magazine.
Notable Works or Actions
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In addition to his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Reagan, Morris was involved in several other notable projects:
The Dutch Boy, a 1998 documentary series about the Netherlands.
A screenplay adaptation of his novel, _If I Only Had Time_, which never came into production.
Impact and Legacy
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Morris's work has left an indelible mark on American literature. His biography of Reagan not only provided an in-depth look at the life of a significant historical figure but also sparked controversy and debate among historians and politicians alike. This achievement solidified his position as one of the most respected biographers of our time.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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Morris's impact on literature extends beyond his notable works to his role in shaping public discourse through his writing. His ability to craft engaging narratives that shed new light on historical events has made him a beloved and respected voice among readers and scholars alike.
Throughout his career, Morris demonstrated an unwavering commitment to storytelling and intellectual curiosity. He was a masterful storyteller who approached complex subjects with sensitivity and nuance, often sparking reflection and introspection in those who read or listened to his work.
As a biographer, novelist, and essayist, Edmund Morris left behind a legacy that continues to inspire readers and writers today. His dedication to exploring the complexities of human experience has made him a widely quoted and remembered figure in literary circles.
Quotes by Edmund Morris
Of all broken reeds,” Roosevelt declared, “sentimentality is the most broken reed on which righteousness can lean.
Roosevelt followed it8 with a quirky essay in The Outlook entitled “Dante and the Bowery,” arguing that literary stylists had grown too precious in eschewing contemporary imagery. There was as much epic grandeur and poignant example to be found in modern life, he suggested, as there was in Greek myth, or for that matter, thirteenth-century cosmology.
Washburn noticed how courteous the Colonel was to servants, and how he talked with equal animation about his gardener and the King of Italy.
Roosevelt gazed around the library. A glint in his spectacles betrayed displeasure. Loeb came up inquiringly, and there was a whispered conversation in which the words newspapermen and sufficient room were audible. Hurrying outside, Loeb returned with two dozen delighted scribes. They proceeded to report the subsequent ceremony with a wealth of detail unmatched in the history of presidential inaugurations.
It is true, as the champions of the extremists say, that there can be no life without change, and that to be afraid of what is different or unfamiliar is to be afraid of life. It is no less true, however, that change may mean death and not life, and retrogression instead of development.
There goes the most remarkable man I ever met. Unless I am badly mistaken, the world is due to hear from him one of these days.
We had no longing for excessive wealth: a mere competency, though earned by daily toil, so that it was reasonably sure, and free from the drag of continued indebtedness to others, was all we coveted.
Roosevelt conceded that “some of the evils of which you complain are real and can be to a certain degree remedied, but not by the remedies you propose.” But most would disappear if there were more of “that capacity for steady, individual self-help which is the glory of every true American.” Legislation could no more do away with them “than you could do away with the bruises which you receive when you tumble down, by passing an act to repeal the laws of gravitation.
To live, for him, has no meaning other than to drive oneself, to act with all one’s strength. An existence without stress, without struggle, without growth has always struck him as mindless. Those who remain on the sidelines he sees as cowards, and consequently his personal enemies.