Remembering Peter Mackler: Elizabeth Hammond: Proud to call Peter friend

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Elizabeth Hammond: Proud to call Peter friend

It’s just too hard to imagine the world without Peter Mackler in it. I was 29 years old when I went to work for Peter at AFP’s Asia Desk in Hong Kong 25 years ago. I had journalism experience but wasn’t so strong in French-to-English translations. Peter never let any weakness or excuses get in the way of constructive criticism. “Hammond,” he would shout out across everyone in the news room high up in the New Mercury House, “why did you bury the lead in the second paragraph on the Vietnam story?” We all learned quickly that he didn’t intend to blast us personally; it was just his way of instructing the whole room at once. Every morning he would read through all the dispatches of the previous 24 hours and any story that was less than perfect in his view was noted for us publicly. But he also had a “Kudos” board where he posted stories that he thought were well done. He was the best mentor I ever had.

Peter’s dedication was amazing. His idea of entertaining his young daughters on a Saturday was to bring them to the office, or at least he felt the obligation to check up on things briefly on the weekends and had them tag along. On one of those occasions, little 3-year-old Lauren was following her dad around the office, saw an interesting button at eye-level on the big computer in the back of the office, and single-handedly shut down all the news coming into and out of the Asia desk. Another time, a typhoon made a middle-of-the-night, direct hit on Hong Kong that disrupted everything, including all public transportation. I was due at work the next morning and was two hours later than my assigned time arriving, having had to hitchhike with few private vehicles on the roads. Peter had spent the night in the office, and was the sole person there, busily editing dispatches when I arrived. “Where is everybody? You’re late,” he said, as he handed me a pile to edit.

We had some major stories in those years: the shooting down of the Korean jetliner, the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the abrupt departure of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, the settling of terms for Britain’s handover of Hong Kong to China. Those were breaking stories with news coming fast and furious from many bureaus. Peter’s intensity upgraded to a controlled frenzy as he simultaneously directed coverage by the bureaus over the phone and hovered over us as we cobbled the stories together. When we had time, someone would run upstairs to check the Reuter’s wire that happened to be on another floor, so we could see what time they had posted their stories compared to ours. If we had it first, the smile on Peter’s face could light up the room.

My husband, Jim, and I got to know Peter and Catherine socially in Hong Kong, partly due to our both having young children who played together. Over the years, we moved to Brussels and they moved to Paris, and we moved to South Carolina and they moved to Washington, D.C. We stayed in touch, visited back and forth, and vacationed together in a 400-year-old stone farm house in the Dordogne, a semi-tropical beach resort at Kiawah along South Carolina’s coast, and a Blue Ridge mountain retreat in Virginia. Our children, who had competed with Peter to see who could throw rocks the farthest under the Pont du Gard, grew into interesting young adults – a lawyer, a playwright, an artist, a musician. Peter, on those vacations, would combine relaxing with periodic bouts of working on his special, personal projects – helping underpriviledged youth gain life skills through journalism was one for which he was particularly proud.

Peter was a good friend, even from long distances. When my husband had cancer and we traveled to Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore for his surgery, Peter drove from Washington on a work day to spend the hours with me while Jim was in surgery, and he and Catherine returned again in the days afterward while Jim was recovering. While Peter and I were attempting to ask the hospital receptionist where we could find a cafeteria, she visibly blanched while looking at Peter and stumbled over her words. While I stood there wondering what was wrong, Peter immediately recognized the problem and raced to her rescue saying, “No, I’m not Chuck Norris. I know I look like him, but I’m not him.”

I was privileged to be able to work for Peter and learn from and be inspired by him. I’m honored to have had him as a friend for these many years. Peter is a good guy who has left this world too soon. We will miss him dearly.

-- Elizabeth Hammond
Columbia, South Carolina
USA
(AFP story sign-off - EGH)

A NOTE FROM CATHERINE

Dear friends,

Camille, Lauren and I have been overwhelmed by messages of sympathy and testimonies from people all over the world on how Peter has touched their lives.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you. We know now that Peter succeeded at what mattered most to him, that was to touch people's lives, make a difference and help them achieve their very best as men and women.

My husband was an extraordinary man in public, as you know, but even more so in private. We shared 31 years that have been rich with love, challenges, and adventures beyond belief. We grew together into what he called "better people." Although he always thought we were never quite there yet, I know that he certainly was.

I have to continue by myself the path that he has laid out so clearly for us. Camille and Lauren, who carry so much of him inside them and take his purpose even further, will be my strength.

Thank you very much for all your support and friendship. I am deeply appreciative of all of you.

Catherine Antoine
catherine@catherineantoine.com

Peter Mackler, a pillar of AFP, dies at 58

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Peter Mackler, a veteran of Agence France-Presse who covered wars, elections and was the driving force behind transforming the agency's English language service into a global powerhouse, has died at 58.

Mackler died Friday after suffering a heart ailment at work in Washington, where he had served as AFP's chief editor for North America since 2006. His sudden death sent shockwaves throughout the agency's bureaus the world over.

"One of the agency's best journalists has died," said AFP chief executive Pierre Louette. "He was for most of us a source of inspiration, a model."

"I know he had a total passion for the agency, a desire for it to be great and remain in the top rank," Louette said. "We will miss him terribly."

Mackler, an American who spoke French fluently, joined AFP in the United States in September 1979 after starting his journalism career at a rival agency, UPI, in New York.

Over his nearly 30-year career at AFP, the indefatigable journalist played a key role in developing the multilingual agency's anglophone service from Paris to the Middle East and Hong Kong.

He was also a passionate and energetic journalist who relished the big stories.

As a reporter or editor, he wrote and oversaw stories that have defined recent history: from the Gulf War in 1991 to the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and George W. Bush's presidency.

In the past year, he steered the Washington bureau's coverage of the marathon presidential nomination race with his usual vigor and focus in the face of intense competition from rival news agencies.

But between his long hours at the office, Mackler had also dedicated his time and energy to lending his vast experience to journalists working in developing countries.

In 2004, Peter Mackler set up Global Media Forum, an international media training programme, that grew out of work he had done for underprivileged children at Duke Ellington High School in Washington.

For the last year, he had worked with the AFP Foundation, a non-profit, and had been preparing a training project for journalists in Lebanon that had been requested by the United Nations.

"Peter Mackler was a man of many parts but to his colleagues he will be chiefly remembered for three outstanding qualities: his uncompromising commitment to the highest professional standards; his deep loyalty to his friends and colleagues; and his dedication to teaching young journalists," said AFP deputy managing editor Robert Holloway.

Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn on August 22, 1949, Mackler graduated with a degree in psychology and began working as a psychologist for children in his neighborhood before joining UPI in 1973.

After starting at AFP in the United States in 1979, Mackler moved to the agency's editing desk in Hong Kong in 1982 and went on to become the bureau chief in Sydney and Singapore.

His work in Asia helped turn AFP's English dispatches into an essential source of news for newspapers and broadcast media across the region.

In 1991, he was dubbed "General Mackler" for his sure-handed organizational skills during the Gulf War as he helped AFP correspondents arrive in Kuwait City hours before the US Army.

After working in Brussels, he had his first stint as chief editor in Washington in 1994 before becoming the bureau's deputy regional director.

He was then named senior reporter based at AFP's headquarters in Paris to cover terrorism, a job that took him back to New York to cover the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and to Pakistan for the war that followed in Afghanistan.

He returned to Washington in 2004 to cover the State Department before being named chief editor for North America two years later.

He is survived by his wife of 31 years, Catherine, and his two daughters, Camille and Lauren.