Frederick Morgan, a founder and longtime editor of the Hudson Review, one of America’s leading literary magazines, has died. He was 81.
Mr. Morgan, a highly regarded poet and editor, had a blood disorder and died of pneumonia in New York on Feb. 20, said Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and a longtime friend.
Mr. Morgan launched the quarterly magazine in 1947 with fellow Princeton graduates Joseph Bennett and William Arrowsmith.
Using their own money, they published the earliest issues in the New York City apartment of Mr. Morgan’s parents. The review soon earned a reputation as an unerring showcase of the most important poets, novelists and essayists. Works by e.e. cummings and Wallace Stevens were featured in the first issue.
The magazine survived primarily on grants and private donations, and circulation never climbed beyond 4,000–all of which agreed with Mr. Morgan. He wanted the Hudson Review to be an alternative to competitors that focused on a particular literary movement, geographic region or academic institution.
