Journalist, Author, Poet, Playwright Ed Morris Dies

Veteran Nashville entertainment journalist Ed Morris passed away on Thursday (Sept. 17) at age…

He is best known for his 14-year tenure at Billboard , but was published in dozens of other periodicals. He also authored eight books, published his poetry, and was the writer of a theatrical production.

Morris grew up in Elkview, West Virginia. His family was not well to do and did not own a car, so he hitchhiked daily from Elkview to Charleston to attend Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston). After his graduation with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1958, he earned a master’s degree in journalism from Ohio University.

While at OU, he met musical-theater performer Norma Chapman. They married in 1960 and remained wed for 61 years. She was a talented pianist as well as an editor, photographer, and author. She also taught him to drive.

Following their marriage, Ed Morris taught English and journalism at Findlay (Ohio) College, Bowling Green (Ohio) State University, Alice Lloyd College (Kentucky), and Edinboro (Pennsylvania) State College. He then served as assistant editor at Writer’s Digest, the monthly trade publication for writers.

He began writing freelance articles for Billboard in 1972, moved to Nashville in 1980, and joined the magazine’s staff in 1981. He rose to become its country-music editor and chief Nashville columnist. Norma became a Music Row publicist working with clients such as Ralph Stanley and Steve Wariner.

In addition to Billboard , Ed Morris’s byline appeared in such publications as Advertising Age, TV Guide, McCall’s, Hollywood Reporter, Amusement Business, Book Page, The Journal Of Country Music, Mother Earth News, Bluegrass Unlimited, Saturday Evening Post, and other national periodicals. He left Billboard in 1995 and became a monthly columnist in Music City News. He also had a weekly column as a humorist in The Nashvillian.

He wrote liner-note essays for albums and box sets by The Judds, Keith Whitley, Eddy Arnold, Guy Clark, Hank Snow, Chet Atkins, and others. Morris was named Print Journalist of the Year in 1993 by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA).

In 1999, Ed Morris began a 20-year tenure as a writer for CMT online. He continued in this role until the COVID pandemic of 2020, which led to staff layoffs. Since then, he had been writing a column for his local newspaper The Kingston Springs Gazette.

Ed Morris was honored at Belmont University’s annual International Country Music Conference (ICMC) with its Charlie Lamb Journalist of the Year award in 2002. He has guest-lectured at Belmont, Vanderbilt University and Trevecca College in Nashville.

His books include Edward Morris’ Complete Guide To Country Music Videos (1997), Garth Brooks: Platinum Cowboy (1993), Alabama (1985), At Carter’s Stanley’s Grave: Musings on Country Music & Musicians (2011), and Scorched Mirth and Acid Reflux (2019), among others. In addition, he has contributed to such reference works as the prize-winning Country: The Music & The Musicians (Abbeville Press), Classic Country (Time-Life Books) and Country On Compact Disc: The Essential Guide To The Music (Grove Press).

In 2016, Morris wrote his first play, The Passion of Ethel Rosenberg, which had multiple productions and performances in Nashville and Santa Fe, plus a public reading at New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage. The play reflected his lifelong support of leftist political causes.

Norma Morris was diagnosed with the onset of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease in 2015. The couple had been living separately for several years, but Ed moved into her home to care for her. He chronicled their experience in a series of extraordinarily moving Facebook blogs, which became his 2020 book Stardust: An Alzheimer’s Love Story. Norma died in 2021.

Reflecting on his long and varied career, Ed Morris once said, “You hear musicians say that they would do it for free if they weren’t paid for it. And I feel the same way about writing. I love to write with the anticipation of amusing people or getting arguments started or whatever…..Anything that happens, if you treat it right, can be turned into a piece of prose. And that’s what I do.”

Ed Morris is survived by daughters Erin Morris Huttlinger and Rachel Serrato, and by son Jason Morris. He is also survived by six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Funeral arrangements have not been announced.