Morabito, the “Kiss of Life” Photographer, Dies at Age 88
Rocco Morabito, who one the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography in 1968 for his picture of a utility working saving the life of a fellow worker, died on Sunday at age 88. You can read his full obit here. Morabito was a long-time employee of the Jacksonville Journal, in Jacksonville Florida. In 1967 he was driving along a local road when he saw an injured man dangling from a electric pole. The man, R.G. Champion, had received a high-voltage jolt and was unconscious. Morabito used his car rad
Rocco Morabito, who one the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography in 1968 for his picture of a utility working saving the life of a fellow worker, died on Sunday at age 88. You can read his full obit here.
Morabito was a long-time employee of the Jacksonville Journal, in Jacksonville Florida. In 1967 he was driving along a local road when he saw an injured man dangling from a electric pole. The man, R.G. Champion, had received a high-voltage jolt and was unconscious. Morabito used his car radio to call an ambulance, then photographed another worker, J.D. Thompson, giving aid to his injured co-worker. An editor at the paper titled the image “Kiss of Life,” and it was reprinted in publications around the world. I recall seeing it when I was a kid. Maybe it made a big impression because my dad had worked briefly for PG&E. But it remains one of the most dramatic news pictures ever made.–David Schonauer