While not directly WBRU-related, GTM was one of my three greatest radio
gurus. Although the article doesn't note it, he was PD at WHCN (short-term
home of several WBRU alumni in the early '70s) from 1964-1976, and really
inspired the station. He had been ailing for a while, but this is still a
very sad day.

Paul Payton '69

Date: Sunday, August 2, 2009, 2:13 PM

George Taylor Morris, National Radio Music Personality Passed Away at His
Home in Reston, Virginia, from Throat Cancer. He Was 62 Years Old

• Press Release
• Source: Family of George Taylor Morris
• On Sunday August 2, 2009, 7:00 am EDT

WASHINGTON, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Radio Icon George Taylor Morris who was
most recently the daily morning host on XM Satellite Radio's 'Deep Tracks'
classic rock channel and was the primary host of the company's "XM Artist
Confidential" series, an all-star interview program that featured music
stars ranging from Paul McCartney and Willie Nelson to Faith Hill and the
late folk great Odetta, passed away at his home in Reston, Virginia, from
throat cancer. He was 62.

George Taylor Morris (aka GTM) began his radio career in his hometown of
King City, California, in 1963 while still a high school sophomore. A
graduate of King City High School in 1965, Morris took programming and DJ
positions in Lake Tahoe and Santa Barbara, CA, then Hempstead, L.I., NY,
where he was News Director at WHLI guiding local coverage during the 1967
war between Israel and Egypt, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and
New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the student riots at Columbia
University, the Apollo moon landing and the famed Woodstock Festival. Morris
also became a well known personality at various other Long Island stations
before securing a DJ position with upstart WWDJ, a top-40 contender in the
New York metropolitan radio market.

By 1975, Morris was programming a top album rock station in Boston, MA,
WCOZ-FM and then was hired away to program WPIX-FM, New York, followed by a
year in national album records promotion for RCA Records in Los Angeles. In
1979 he was hired as a news anchor at the fledgling NBC young adult radio
network, The Source, where he did national reporting during the Iran hostage
crisis and the 1980 presidential elections. In 1981, Morris was selected to
be the first entertainment program director for The Source, where he
developed a successful series of radio interview programs and a live concert
series from venues around the U.S. After his tenure at NBC, Morris was hired
as the first program director at the Westwood One Radio Network.

In 1984, Morris was recruited by the Global Satellite Network to write,
produce and host "Reelin' In The Years", a weekly syndicated album rock show
that was a mix of music, interviews, commentary, vintage commercials and
film and TV clips. In the 15 years "Reelin' In The Years" aired on hundreds
of radio stations across the US, Canada and on Armed Forces Radio.
In 1996, Morris was the subject of some worldwide media attention for
passing along a puzzling musical oddity often referred to as 'The Dark Side
Of The Wizard Of Oz' where, by pairing Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon'
album as the soundtrack for the film, a wide variety of coincidental music
markers come into play. Morris always contended that he was 'just the
messenger' for story (it originated on the still new world wide web), he was
nonetheless sought after by media outlets like NPR's 'Weekend Edition' and
from as far away as Japan and Russia to guide listeners through the maze of
clues.

In lieu of flowers, his family suggests donations to the non-profit
organization, Capital Hospice, located at 209 Gibson Street NW, Suite 202,
Leesburg, VA 20176.

Details for the memorial service will be announced shortly.
Morris is survived by his wife of twenty years, Gail Markens Morris and son
Evan Markens Morris of Reston Virginia, brothers Michael Morris of
Chatsworth, CA, and Roy Morris of Greenfield, CA and his sister Karen
Bertrand of San Jose, CA.