It was never a slow news day when Peter was in the office. We had to "come back" on the story from the previous day or look ahead to the next item, plan ahead. He was right of course, and his sense of the story helped make AFP the competitive news agency it is worldwide.
Just because of happenstance, Peter and I probably spent more time together over the past 15 years than anyone, except possibly his wife Catherine. He was my editor and manager. And since I was a union rep, he was technically an adversary. But he knew the strength of any organization was its people and he would frequently take me aside and tell me "off the record" how he was looking out for people.
There was no problem too big or too small for Peter. He had an amazing strategic view, almost Napoleonic. He conquered Asia and Europe and moved into North America. He had to vision to break away from AP to become a real competitor. He moved AFP onto the Web, mobile devices, video. But he saw to small details, offering to get lunch for a busy reporter or order food for a big election.
Yes he was a workaholic. But he was never too busy to take a call from his wife. "OK babe," he would say. You heard the softness in his voice and you knew he was very content at home, just as he was happy in his work at the office, however long he had worked.
Peter and I shared a certain bond. We both were from New York, so could talk about the Yankees or Brooklyn Dodgers. We both worked in VISTA, the government poverty program (this was left out of the obits). We both married French women and knew the joys and problems of bicultural families and bicultural journalism.
Maybe it was the Brooklyn Dodger spirit that drove Peter to drive other people. He knew that the underdog could come back and win whatever the odds. So if we were outmanned 50 to 1, and yet able to beat the competition, Peter wasn't surprised. This is what he had planned for all along.
-- Rob Lever
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