Morris Earle Sr. March 25, 1917 May 9, 2006 Morris Earle Sr., a long-time New Haven resident and local political figure, died Tuesday at Shard Villa in Salisbury. He was 89 years old. A native of Cold Spring Harbor, New York, Mr. Earle graduated from Harvard University and Harvard Law School. He served as Captain in the U.S. Army in the Pacific during World War II, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. After the war, Mr. Earle married the former Virginia Osborn of New York City and they remained married until her death in 2000. They settled in Fairfield County, CT, where Mr. Earle practiced law and began his political career, serving as County Prosecutor and in the State Legislature. Mr. Earle and his family moved to New Haven in 1972, where he became active in local politics. At the same time, he completed a Masters Degree in Economics at Sir George Williams University in Montreal (now Concordia University). In 1982 he founded the Small is Beautiful movement and ran as a third-party candidate for Congress five times, traveling throughout Vermont to share his views on small-scale sustainable economic growth. With his wife Virginia, Mr. Earle shared a life-long love of poetry and literature. While in college, he was editor of the Harvard Crimson newspaper and composed the Senior Class Ode. He continued to publish poetry occasionally throughout his life. He was a regular participant in the Poetry and Writers Workshops at the Ilsley Library in Middlebury for many years. Mr. Earle attended the Champlain Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Middlebury, and was a long-time member and supporter of the Bristol Rescue Squad. Mr. Earle is survived by his sister, Louise Earle Loomis of Hartford, CT, also by his four sons, Walter K. of Rockville, MD, Ralph H. of Chapel Hill NC, Frederick O. of Kaunas, Lithuania, and Morris Jr., of Middlebury, and by eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. The family will receive visitors on Thursday, May 11 from 5 to 8 PM at Sanderson Funeral Services, 117 South Main Street, Middlebury. A memorial service will be held June 17 at the Champlain Valley Unitarian-Universalist Church. The family requests that donations be made to the Bristol Rescue Squad in lieu of flowers.