Matt Lee: A decade of friendship

For the past decade, Peter Mackler, his underdog work ethic, enormous energy, fierce competitiveness and intense dedication to friends and family have been near constants in my life. Through all that time, even after I left AFP, I have felt his presence.Peter hired me on the Washington desk in 1998. He was then key to my move to the State Department, a job he had created. He replaced me there six years later when I left for Kenya. A year and a half ago, he asked me to come back to DC for the current presidential campaign.

Peter was a task-master, to be sure, but a consummate professional brimming with enthusiasm, optimism and encouragement. His leadership was instrumental in advancing my reporting career and that of many others. When I was a manager, I looked to Peter’s example to inspire.He was always on top of the story, quick with the sharp angle and necessary context.

And he loved to be first. When I arrived in Kenya, my new home, Peter was already there. I got off the plane on that January night in 2006 and there was a message waiting for me. It was from Peter. He had landed several hours earlier with Colin Powell. “Come join us for a drink,” he said. And thus, before seeing my new office and co-workers, finding my lost luggage or even settling into my hotel, I reported for duty, answering his summons to the bar at the Nairobi Intercontinental. Maybe you know the one, the big grey building just off Uhuru Highway near Jomo Kenyatta’s tomb. Peter certainly did: he gave me directions.“Welcome to Nairobi,” he said when I walked through the door.

That was the thing. He seemed at home everywhere. You could run into him in Paris, Delhi, Singapore, Sydney, Cairo or Kuwait City and not think twice about it. I remember seeing him once in Jerusalem and wondering where in the world he couldn’t be found.

Peter’s sudden passing has robbed us of a great mentor, friend and colleague but his legacy will remain.

Godspeed…

-- Matt Lee