(nabj) The National Association of Black Journalists mourns the passing of its eighth national president Thomas Morgan III. Morgan, who served as NABJ’s leader from 1989 until 1991, died Monday in Southampton, Mass. while visiting family for the holidays. He was 56. Friends say that Morgan, a Brooklyn resident, suffered a heart attack on Sunday night. Morgan was a 20-year newspaperman, mostly with The New York Times, before he retired in 1994, largely to concentrate on his personal fight against AIDS. "Tom was a man of passion and compassion. He had the ability to walk into a room divided and help those who held opposing viewpoints find common ground,” said NABJ President Barbara Ciara. “His loss is not only a personal one for me, but a great loss for NABJ. As recent as last week he was making his voice heard as we debated the recent FCC ruling affecting minority media ownership. I will miss his counsel, his dedication to NABJ, and most of all his friendship." Morgan won NABJ's presidency in 1989 in New York City, after serving six years as national treasurer. With his election, Morgan became NABJ’s first openly gay president. According to a profile written by Katti Gray for NABJ’s “Committed to the Cause,” there were several members of the organization who wondered aloud whether a gay president “would be a pox on the public face of what is the nation's largest organization of journalists of color.” "It was painful," said Morgan, at the time. "I struggled with how to represent NABJ without embarrassing the organization but while also being true to myself. I was elected as a black journalist, not a gay one." "Tom has always been a sacred giant. An intellectual whose life was a shining example to so many who cared about doing good journalism, about the community and living a life filled with integrity,” said Frankie Edozien. “While I’ll forever have the unconditional friendship he offered over the years, I'm saddened for the throngs of journalists who never got to know the man and bask - like I did in - in his sage advice, warm smiles and hearty laughter. His example of living and thriving will not be in vain."

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