John Morris, one of the original organizers of the 1969 Woodstock Festival, has died. He was 84 years old.

According to the LA Times, Morris died in his home in Sante Fe, New Mexico on November 10th. He passed after dealing with a long illness. He also suffered from COPD and had a previous bout with cancer.

Luzann Fernandez, Morris’ partner of 33 years, spoke with the LA Times and confirmed his passing. She also shared a statement and talked about what Morris was like as a person.

“One of the things that I always loved most about John is that he was one of the most egalitarian people you would ever meet. He would think nothing of putting a plumber next to the Queen of England at a dinner party and it would be fun — that’s just the way he was. He saw people for who they were.”

“[John] was an adventurer, I had amazing adventures with him. He had a great sense of humor. I used to love teasing him about how he was semi-famous,” Fernandez continued. “He had friends all over the world from all walks of life and he always stayed in touch.”

John Morris Helped Bring Woodstock 1969 to the Masses

John Morris, along with many others, helped organize and produce the historic Woodstock 1969 Festival. Morris also acted as an “MC” of sorts during the festival, making various announcements to the live crowd.

Once the festival became a “free” festival, due to the large crowd overtaking the grounds, Morris was the one who broadcasted this information over the PA system for the audience to hear. He spoke about his Woodstock 1969 experience in an interview with the Malibu Times 2017.

“We dealt with what became one of the largest cities in New York State at that point… managed to put on one of the best music concerts of all time, which is immortalized in the Woodstock film.”

“You can see me in that film announcing and coming as close to a nervous breakdown as humanly possible. On Sunday, we had what was later on called a tornado that shot through the festival, poured rain, wind — the stage started sort of sliding, feeling dangerous,” Morris continued.