Environmental journalist Margaret Morris remembered for relentless advocacy

Margaret Morris, environmental warrior that she was, gave one parting shot for sustainability when healthy neem saplings were presented to persons attending a thanksgiving service for her life in Discovery Bay, St Ann, on Saturday.

“Plant a tree in loving memory of Margaret Elizabeth.”

By this act, the family of the former journalist, photography and author, added one more stripe to her impressive environmental legacy.

Her enthusiasm for environmental causes was highlighted by environmentalist Wendy Lee of the Northern Jamaica Conservation Association (NJCA) from the time she joined the organisation in 1989, when it was known as the St Ann Environmental Protection Association.

She recalled Morris’ advocacy, including her relentless letter-writing campaign about issues such as bauxite and limestone mining and development of Pear Tree Bottom, which is deemed a sensitive ecological area.

Her writing career began with her contribution of short stories to Woman’s Own magazine, but it was at The Gleaner that she blossomed into a formidable investigative journalist.

In her tribute to Morris, former Gleaner Editor-in-Chief Wyvolyn Gager described her as a towering figure in the Gleaner newsroom during the 1980s and 1990s.

Said Gager: “The irony is that Margaret was a petite, soft-spoken woman standing barely 5 feet above ground. Yet, she was a force to be reckoned with, no one could fob her off and she was known for rattling her interview subjects with her penetrative questions.”

Touching on Morris’ work on environment, she said: “When Margaret started writing about the environment, she was a lone voice. But it was a certain voice, a passionate voice, one which called attention to some of the horrible things that people were doing to the ecosystem. As she informed, she raised awareness, she stirred debate and helped us to understand that we need to take better care of the space we occupy on this Earth.”

Mother to four, grandmother to 10 and great-grandmother to 10, Margaret died on April 23 after a period of illness.