Brendan was born in 1951, three months after his Irish-born father and Australian-born mother arrived in New York City. He was raised in New York, but, from early childhood, spent summers in a small cabin at the foot of Mount Greylock, Massachusetts' highest peak. It was there that he fell in love with New England, and at Middlebury College where he narrowed that affection to Vermont.
After teaching sixth grade for two years, he pursued a career in Medicine, and gained admission three years later. He did his internship and residency at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and then moved to Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, where he practiced primary care medicine for thirty four years, until 2019, at the Hardwick Area (Community) Health Center.
He continues to live in East Hardwick with his wife Helen, a retired school psychologist. Their children, Matthew and Emma, live in California and Utah.
The Morse Code:
Legacy of a Vermont Sportswriter
Triumph over hardship. Pay it forward. The power of community.
These were the moral codes of Vermont Sports Hall of Fame sportswriter Dave Morse, whose hidden contributions to the youth of a small community still reverberate across the hearts and minds of those who knew him.
The Morse Code: Legacy of a Vermont Sportswriter chronicles the life of Vermonter Dave Morse (1937-2015), who spent the last twenty years of his life in Hardwick, where he wrote the weekly sports column “The Morse Code”' for the Hardwick Gazette. His beat was all sports and all ages. He was a widely respected reporter, and an ever-willing conversationalist, but, unknown to his readers, he overcame childhood trauma, heartbreak, and adversity to achieve and maintain his professional success. Ultimately, he became most admired and loved for his empathy, kindness, generosity––and his magnificent mustache.
“Brendan Buckley has found a gem of a story about a Vermont institution, sportswriter Dave Morse. It’s impeccably researched and beautifully written, the fascinating tale of a complicated, generous and incredibly talented man who entertained his readers for decades and surely would have greatly appreciated the author’s skillful writing and relentless reporting.”
— Leonard Shapiro, Washington Post sportswriter & editor; author
Brendan’s Book
The Morse Code:
Legacy of a Vermont Sportswriter
Publication is set for July 18, 2023.
Why Tell Dave’s Story?
I first noticed Dave as he attended our childrens’ athletic events in the mid 1990s. He stood out, with his shock of white hair and glorious mustache. I introduced myself, and so began a sporadic conversation that continued up until his death, in 2015.
I learned that we had some moments of shared history, as he had been Sports Editor at the Rutland Herald when I was playing sports at Middlebury College. I don’t think that he remembered me, but he knew the names of some of my all-star teammates!
Our conversations were almost always about sports. I loved revisiting the old days through his retrospective lens. His memory across Vermont sports, dating back to his childhood, was astounding. He considered Andrea Mead Lawrence, the alpine skiing star of the 1952 Winter Olympics (when Dave was only 14), to be Vermont’s greatest athlete. To sit with him at an event was to be treated to his recall of games played long ago that he managed to connect to the game unfolding before our eyes.
From time to time we spoke of issues beyond wins and losses. On the occasion of a racially based issue dominating the news, he quietly mentioned that he had once been married to a Black woman. He did not seem inclined to elaborate; nor did I press the question. That one brief glimpse aside, I had no clear picture of Dave’s life before he came to Hardwick in early 1994.
Still, I had learned enough from him about Vermont sports history over the years that I thought he had a story to tell, a book to write. I even said as much to him on the occasion of his Appreciation Night at Hazen Union School in February 2014. And he himself alluded to that goal in a ‘Morse Code’ column once. Alas, he died before he could achieve that aim. During a visit near the end of his life I shared with him that I wanted to tell his story.
Had Dave lived to write the book, it would have been very different from my version. Dave would not have written about the many athletes and coaches whose lives he influenced, instilling in them a belief in themselves, through both his writing and his many acts of kindness. That was Dave; that was The Morse Code - shine a light on others, especially the kids.
I am grateful that I have been able to see the project through to completion. It has been a wonderful journey, filled with surprises, and gaps, that have left me wishing that my conversation with Dave had not ended so soon.
From Ink to Immortality
Brendan sat down with Barney Smith of Story Comic to discuss the making of The Morse Code: Legacy of a Vermont Sportswriter.
“His book isn’t only about a legendary Vermont sportswriter—it’s also an evocation of a lost age of newspapering, an uplifting account of the people who stitched a community together, and a love note to Hardwick, the town that saved Dave.”
Alex Wolff, Sports Illustrated writer and author of Endpapers
“Dave Morse’s story deserves to be told. It’s deeply reported and tenderly written about one of the most fascinating and interesting personalities ever in Vermont sports journalism. His life had equal moments of achievement and heartbreak and he overcame the odds to go down as one of the most caring and empathetic writers ever.”
Peter Graves, ABC Sports, 1980 Olympic Games Announcer
“Poignant scenes unfold, page after page. I thought I knew Dave well. I know him even better now. And Brendan Buckley, a retired family doctor living in East Hardwick, has woven Dave’s story in a readable style that makes The Dave Morse Story a page turner.”
Tom Haley, the Rutland Herald