John Morse

John Michael Morse died December 11th, 2025 at a Bangor hospital a week following an accident at his home in Machias, ME.

John was the son of George and Catherine Morse of Lake City Florida. He is survived by his three brothers, Daniel (Aline), Robert (Patty) and George (Sharon). He is preceded in death by his sister, Branda, who he absolutely adored. We're all fortunate if they're now together and watching over us. John also cherished a myriad of nieces and nephews along with an expansive circle of friends.

John leaves behind his husband, Ross Pedersen. They met in San Francisco July 5, 1999. In John's words, they were married for 26 years in the "eyes of the Lord". In the eyes of the government, they were married December 2, 2011, after the State of New York legalized same-sex marriage. In a speech before the Municipal Art Society of New York, after being awarded the Brendan Gill Prize, he reminded the audience that he and Ross had always had the right to be married, it was just now the state had recognized that right.

John moved from Lake City to Oregon when he was sixteen to live with his sister Branda, her husband Rod and their sons Troy and Eric. He graduated from high school in Reedsport and attended The University of Oregon at Eugene and Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA. John lived all over the country and the world, from Barcelona and New York City, to Hollywood (FL) and Galveston (TX). At the end of his life, he and Ross were loving their home in Machias, while avoiding the coldest months by escaping to their condo in Palm Springs, CA. They have a beloved circle of friends in both places.

John Morse was a lot of things. Among them were artist, activist, writer, punk and agitator. He was a prolific collage artist and a subversive poet who believed poetry should not be relegated to the "ghetto of a book". He wrote poems that appeared in the form of matchbooks, flyers and business cards. Roadside Haiku was a series of poems written on bandit signs and placed around the city of Atlanta. They caught the eye of passersby who thought they were reading another advertisement to "sell your gold" or "meet new singles" and unwittingly found themselves reading poetry. The installation found media notoriety and the City of New York commissioned him to do a similar piece, Curbside Haiku, which was haiku poems relating to transportation and pedestrian safety accompanied by images John created. Both were made to look like official New York City Street signs. Rachel Maddow crowned it the "Coolest Thing of The Week" and the New York Post headline read "City's Going Haiku-koo" (which John thought was hilarious).

John Morse loved young people and was passionate about showing them that art was something they could do, too. In the early days of COVID, he spoke to an Atlanta high school art class via SKYPE from his studio while Ross worked from the dining room. In the middle of the class discussion, he called for Ross to come back to the studio. When he arrived, John asked a young lady on the screen to repeat what she had just said. She chuckled and said, "You're cool." whereby John turned to Ross and said, "See! I told you!"

John Morse was definitely cool.

A gathering of friends and family will be scheduled at a future date.