Friends celebrate life, work of Philip Morris

Philip Morris was one of seven children and loved to travel. He was a journalist who was enthusiastic, opinionated and “and a wonderful dinner companion” friends said. He swam every day for an hour and talked with his hands. And in the design world, long-time friend and former co-worker John Floyd said, “He was quite a force.”

Morris, who is well-known for his work in design throughout the Birmingham metro area and Mountain Brook community, died on Sept. 14 after outliving an 18-month cancer prognosis. “And he was very proud of the fact that he outlived his prognosis,” said friend of 39 years Rebecca Moody.

And he had much more to be proud of from his time in the South.

An English Village resident, Morris moved from Oklahoma to Birmingham when he was 29 years old to work for Southern Living. He started as the building editor in the late 1960s before becoming the executive editor and later editor at-large for Southern Living as well as Southern Accents and Coastal Living.

“Philip was a journalist first and second was interested in homes and … especially architecture,” Floyd said. “We [Southern Living] brought the two together which was incredibly important for the magazine. I really credit Philip for that.”

During his time at Southern Living, he covered the design arts, including architecture, landscape design and interior design in the South, both in the home and in towns and cities.

He was also selected for a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he completed a year of self-study focusing on architecture and landscape architecture. Floyd said he believes this was a defining moment in Morris’ career.

“It really helped him solidify his thought process on design and taste,” Floyd said. 

Norman Johnson, a good friend who met Morris in 1976, agreed to its significance. “Because of his Loeb Fellowship, he was able to have conversation with people at their own level,” he said.

“That gave him real credentials,” said Bob Moody, Morris’ friend of 48 years. 

Morris retired in 2000, and while his work at Southern Living may have come to a stopping point, his contributions to the city of Birmingham — many of which he began while he was working with the magazine — still flourished.

“He became a full-time design advocate,” Rebecca Moody said. She, along with Johnson, also worked with Morris. “He definitely wanted to support good architecture in Birmingham.” 

Despite not growing up in Alabama, those who knew him said Morris truly considered Birmingham to be “his.”

“It was his adopted home, and I think that he could really value the legacy of good design that had come before,” said Cheryl Morgan. 

Morgan, former director of Auburn University’s Urban Design Studio, had known Morris since the early ’90s. They worked closely together on many committees for Birmingham and through the urban studio.

Morris was involved in both the city and the Southern Design community, seeking to revitalize the city through a mixed-use urban space, according to his bio.

As a partial list, he was a founding member of Design Alabama, an advocacy group and publication for design professionals; a former board member of Vulcan Park Foundation and co-chair of the planning committee for its renovations; past president of the Birmingham Historical Society; past trustee and member of the design committee for the Birmingham Botanical Society; former chairman of Mountain Brook Village Design Review; past president and chairman emeritus of Operation New Birmingham; former board member of Friends of Linn Park; and member of the design committee for Railroad Park and Linn Park. He was a contributor to the Community Catalyst Fund with the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, as well. 

“He had a long history of supporting and articulating and having a voice in the city when it comes to the design community,” Floyd said. “I think he’ll be remembered for his passion for design.”

Morgan said when it came to projects and project ideas, Morris had a great balance of “both the aspirational and the doable.”

“He advocated the highest and best and expected just to do the best that we could as a community, as designers, as companies, corporations, developers … at the same time, he wanted things to be authentic to the place they were in,” she said. 

He also received numerous awards, including the Servant Leadership Vulcan Community Award, the Alabama Humanities Award and the Birmingham-Southern College Medal of Service. Morris served as volunteer project manager for four public sculpture projects including “Granite Garden” in the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and “Civitas” in English Village, too.

He even commissioned the creation of a poster that highlights the historic architecture of downtown Birmingham, which is still for sale today at the Vulcan Park Museum.

Johnson described his dedication to working with cities on design and architecture as “altruistic.”

“His passion fir Birmingham was also something that really needs to be acknowledged … He had the luxury of being Birmingham’s advocate for design,” he said. “And he was so quick to praise, to acknowledge, to pay attention to something that was really, really good.”

“I used to say that anything good that happened in Birmingham in the last 20 to 30 years, Philip had something to do with it,” Bob Moody said.

And Morris will continue to have a great influence in the Birmingham community, both through his accomplishments and through a foundation he is leaving that focuses on design. 

“He saw real potential here, and he wanted to make Birmingham a better place to live,” Floyd said. “And I really think that’s going to be his legacy after his death because he’s helped with so many design related things.”