Pubdate: Mon, 01 Sep 2014
Source: Ledger, The (Lakeland, FL)
Contact:  2014 The Ledger
Website: http://www.theledger.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/795
Author: Brendan Farrington, the Associated Press

JOHN MORGAN: THE MAN BEHIND THE MEDICAL MARIJUANA DRIVE

ORLANDO (AP) - The worst day of John Morgan's life was when his 
brother snapped his neck diving into a Walt Disney World lagoon while 
working as a lifeguard. It left him a quadriplegic.

That day also set Morgan, the man behind Florida's medical marijuana 
ballot initiative, on a course that would make him a wealthy and 
locally famous personal injury lawyer.

Morgan, then an undergraduate student, watched as Disney's lawyers 
successfully fought his brother at every turn. When the case 
eventually boiled down to a worker's compensation claim, even then 
the big corporation beat the little guy. Instead of settling, Disney 
said Tim Morgan could still work as a resort telephone operator on 
the graveyard shift.

"It was like, 'We've crushed you.' I was so frustrated. I knew what I 
was going to do," Morgan said - he would get revenge against those 
who hurt his brother and those like them. "And I've never done anything else."

That's not quite true. Since then he's also wielded a lot of 
political influence; started an investment firm with retired NBA star 
Grant Hill; opened a crime museum in Washington, D.C., with 
"America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh; built a string of 
science-themed attractions called Wonderworks; and spent $4 million 
to get the medical marijuana proposal on the November ballot - an 
issue also inspired by his brother Tim, who smokes pot to help 
control muscle spasms he still suffers from his diving injury.

John Morgan, 58, began Morgan & Morgan in 1988 with three lawyers. It 
now has 260 lawyers in 23 offices across six states, built in part by 
being a pioneer among personal injury lawyers who advertise on 
television and billboards. His ads blanket the state.

Morgan counts presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton among his 
friends and former Gov. Charlie Crist, who is again running for 
governor, is an employee. Morgan is a huge political donor who has 
raised millions of dollars for candidates - usually Democrats, but 
he's also written checks for Republicans.

And his personality is as big as his law firm. He's charismatic with 
a sense of humor that's often sprinkled with profanity. He is not shy 
about his fondness for Tennessee whiskey, but after a 1997 DUI he 
said doesn't get behind the wheel if he has even a single drink. 
Instead he has a black limousine and a driver.

Morgan doesn't hide his wealth, but he is generous with it. An 
Orlando food bank named its distribution center after his firm when 
he and his wife Ultima donated $2 million to the organization. He 
hands out large denomination bills when approached by the homeless 
and helps many others privately.

He has a you-can't-take-it-with-you attitude about his millions. 
"I've been to a thousand funerals. I've never seen a U-Haul hooked up 
to a hearse," Morgan, holding a whiskey on the rocks, told the Tampa 
Bay Young Republicans this spring while talking about the marijuana initiative.

The GOP group took some heat for inviting Morgan to the event. 
Executive director Lacey Wickline acknowledged that many Republicans 
don't like Morgan because of his political stances and unapologetic 
style. But Wickline said Morgan is a huge Florida employer and 
investor and simply a nice guy who likes to help people.

"He's kind of like Bill Clinton in that he makes you feel like the 
most important person in the room. He just has that much charisma and 
I think it's absolutely genuine," she said. "He's worked his butt 
off. He's built this empire and I just admire that regardless of what 
we disagree on politically."

Those fighting him on the medical marijuana issue aren't so positive 
about Morgan.

"He's been very nasty and very unprofessional to the people debating 
him," said Calvina Fay, executive director of the Drug Free America Foundation.

Morgan admits when challenged, he fights back hard.

"When somebody comes looking for a fight, I will take out my right 
hand with an open palm and slap them down to the ground," he said.

Morgan is the oldest of five children born to alcoholic parents. His 
father had a hard time holding a job and his mother was an angry 
drunk. He remembers at 14 driving and with no driver's license 
packing his siblings into a car and checking into a motel to escape 
her. He said looking back now, it's hard to imagine that was his life.

"We were dealing with the hellcat," he said. "She was one of these 
that would wake up and just be coming at ya, belligerent as hell, 
just blind running drunk."

So Morgan spent a lot of his time working.

At 14 he was flipping burgers at a Dairy Queen. He said the job made 
him feel "sky high" and he liked the feeling of having money in his pocket.

"I was like, 'Give me all the hours you want. I like being at work,'" 
Morgan said.

In college he worked at Disney as a costumed character, beginning as 
the "The Jungle Book" orangutan King Louie and later portraying 
Fiddler Pig and finally Pluto.

"Disney was a safe haven for me," he said. "I would have worked 
non-stop at Disney if they let me."

And despite his feelings about Disney after his brother's accident, 
he holds no bitterness for the theme park giant.

"I love Disney World," he said. "When I was a character, the reason 
it was such a great job is you're dealing with people who are really 
having one of the very best days they're ever going to have in their 
whole life and you're a part of it."

And Walt Disney is one of the people who inspired him as he grew his 
businesses.

"The mantra at Disney was dream and do it, and most people just dream 
but don't do. The reason that Walt Disney is one of my heroes is that 
guy did it," Morgan said. "That's kind of how I tick. I like a big 
project, I like a big challenge."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom