The West Virginia University David C. Hardesty Jr. Festival of Ideas returns on Oct. 8 with legendary Life and National Geographic photo editor, John G. Morris. His talk begins at 7:30 p.m. in The Erickson Alumni Center ballrooms.

John Godfrey Morris has been intimately involved with the story of 20th-century photojournalism. As Life magazine’s photo editor for Europe, based in London and in charge of coordinating the photographic war coverage of the Western Front during World War II, he managed to save the 11 historic images by Robert Capa of the D-Day Normandy landing on June 6, 1944.

After this auspicious start, Godfrey’s career went on to span tenures with the Magnum photo agency, Ladies’ Home Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times and National Geographic. His autobiography, “Get the Picture, A Personal History of Photojournalism” has been translated into five languages.

Godfrey has received the Dr. Erich Salomon Preis award from the German Society of Photography and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Center of Photography. He was made a knight in France’s prestigious L�gion d’Honneur in 2009.

At 97 years old, Godfrey continues to work tirelessly as an advocate for world peace from his home in Paris.

Festival of Ideas was created in 1995 by WVU President Emeritus David C. Hardesty, Jr. and was inspired by events he organized as student body president in the 1960’s. Today, the lecture series spans the academic year and serves to engage a diverse group of newsmakers, public figures, thought leaders and University superstars with the campus community. It’s organized by the Office of University Events.

-WVU-

ld/10/1/14

CONTACT: Liz Dickinson, Office of University Events
304-293-8025, liz.dickinson@mail.wvu.edu

Follow @WVUToday on Twitter.