Morton I. Hamburg

1931 - 2020
Morton I. Hamburg, 89, died peacefully at his home in Manhattan on Monday, March 30th, 2020. He leaves behind his wife of more than 50 years, radio broadcaster Joan Hamburg, and two children, Elizabeth Hamburg, an entrepreneur, and John Hamburg, a filmmaker, a daughter-in-law, actress Christina Kirk, granddaughter Stella Louise Kirk Hamburg, his beloved standard poodle, Annabelle, and countless relatives and close friends.

Hamburg was born in Brooklyn, NY on January 7, 1931 to Sadie and George Hamburg. "Skip", as he was widely known, grew up across from Ebbets Field, where he had a front-row seat watching the Dodgers from his rooftop. Skip attended Camp Mooween in Connecticut, where he met many of his lifelong friends. He graduated from Erasmus Hall High and went on to receive a BA and law degree from New York University.

He was an expert on telecommunications law, which he practiced for over 40 years and taught as an adjunct professor at NYU Law School. He was the author of three books on telecommunications including "All About Cable", one of the first and most widely-used legal books on the subject of cable television, published in 1979, and "Making Millions in Telecommunications".

He was a pioneer in many ways -- at NYU Law, he conducted one of the early satellite learning classes with students from the Midwest and China and he was involved as legal counsel to the Edison Responsive Environment's Talking Typewriter, an early version of interactive learning, which was used to teach preschoolers how to read and write-- in 1966!

Hamburg owned broadcast and cable properties together with partners, former Secretary of the United States Treasury William E. Simon and long-time radio broadcaster John A. Gambling.

Upon retirement from the world of law and media, he turned his lifetime passion for photography into a second career, publishing two books of photographs, "Couples" and "Commitment".

Hamburg was a member of the board of directors and later Overseers of the International Rescue Committee for more than four decades, serving at one point as their volunteer legal counsel. One of the highlights of his life was a trip he took with fellow IRC members to Calcutta, where he had an audience with Mother Teresa.

He was a member of the University Club of New York and the East Hampton Tennis Club. He was a lifelong lover of music and possessed a beautiful baritone singing voice.

He would sing often at family gatherings, weddings and other special occasions, but the highlight of his amateur singing career came when he performed the National Anthem before a New York Knicks game in Madison Square Garden.

Hamburg had a wonderfully dry sense of humor and a keen intellect and curiosity. He had a great influence on and was a mentor to a multitude of young people including Rhea Combong, whom he helped to raise.

Donations may be made to the International Rescue Committee in his memory.