Frederick Morgan, 81, poet, journal editor

NEW YORK -- Frederick Morgan, a poet and founding editor of the literary journal The Hudson Review, died Friday in Manhattan. He was 81.

The cause was respiratory failure, said his wife, Paula Deitz, who is the journal's current editor.

Mr. Morgan founded The Hudson Review with two partners in 1948. It has published poetry and prose by some of the 20th century's most renowned writers, including Thomas Mann, John Dos Passos, T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, and Sylvia Plath. The journal also prints reviews and news about music, theater, dance, and visual arts.

Mr. Morgan served as editor of the journal until 1998, when Deitz took over, but he continued to edit manuscripts until days before his death.

Mr. Morgan was born in New York City in 1922 and graduated from Princeton in 1943. He served in the US Army during World War II before founding The Hudson Review.

He started writing poetry at the age of 50, publishing about a dozen volumes, including "Poems: New and Selected" (1987) and "The One Abiding" (2003).

In addition to his wife, Mr. Morgan leaves two daughters, Gaylen and Veronica, both of Cambridge, Mass.; a son, George F. of Pipersville, Pa.; and five grandchildren.