Rocco Morabito
Rocco Morabito (November 2, 1920 – April 5, 2009) was an American photographer who spent the majority of his career at the Jacksonville Journal. Morabito, born in Port Chester, New York, moved to Florida when he was 5, and by age 10 was working as a newsboy, selling papers for the Jacksonville Journal. He served in World War II in the Army Air Forces as a ball-turret gunner on a B-17.
Rocco Morabito
Frank Smith · Public domain
- Name
- Rocco Morabito
- Born
- 2 November 1920
- Birthplace
- Port Chester, New York, U.S.
- Died
- 5 April 2009
- Known for
- Photography
- Awards
- Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- photographer · journalist
- Education
- Andrew Jackson High School
- Honours
- Pulitzer Prize for Photography
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Documentary summary
Rocco Morabito (November 2, 1920 – April 5, 2009) was an American photographer who spent the majority of his career at the Jacksonville Journal. Morabito, born in Port Chester, New York, moved to Florida when he was 5, and by age 10 was working as a newsboy, selling papers for the Jacksonville Journal. He served in World War II in the Army Air Forces as a ball-turret gunner on a B-17.
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In this article
Biography
Biography
After the war, he returned to the Jacksonville Journal and started his photography career shooting sporting events for the paper. He worked for the Journal for 42 years, 33 of them as a photographer, until retiring in 1982. The news photographer won the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for "The Kiss of Life", a Jacksonville Journal photo that showed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation between two workers on a utility pole. Champion was unconscious and hanging upside down after contacting a low voltage line; fellow lineman J.D. Thompson revived him while strapped to the pole by the waist. Thanks to Thompson's intervention, Champion survived and lived until 2002, when he died of heart failure at the age of 64. Thompson was still living as of July 2026.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Rocco Morabito • Born — 2 November 1920 • Birthplace — Port Chester, New York, U.S. • Died — 5 April 2009 • Known for — Photography • Awards — Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography • Illustration — Morabito's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph, "The Kiss of Life"
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1920
Rocco Morabito was born on 2 November 1920.
2009
Rocco Morabito died at Jacksonville.
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Port Chester.
Birth place
Jacksonville.
Death place
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General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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