Peter Bird Martin ’51

Peter Bird Martin ’51 died at Kendal in Hanover on November 22, 2021. Peter’s love of writing and journalism was evident during his undergraduate years, when he was an editor at The Dartmouth and contributor to Dartmouth Alumni Magazine. Soon after graduating he joined the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to cover what he described as “dead bodies in the bottom of elevator shafts, fires, and the League of Women Voters.” His vivid newspaper stories caught the attention of the Institute of Current World Affairs, which offered him a two-year fellowship to report on the social, economic, and political upheavals in sub-Saharan Africa during decolonization. After his fellowship, Peter joined Time magazine. During his 23-year career at Time he covered Latin American affairs; was senior editor of the magazine’s medicine, press, law, science, and performing arts sections; and helped conceive People and Entertainment Weekly. He cofounded Money magazine. In 1978 he moved to Hanover and became the third executive director of the Institute of Current World Affairs. He appointed and mentored 77 fellows who sent the institute monthly dispatches from around the world. He founded the South-North News Service, dedicated to cultivating Third World journalists, and produced World Wide, providing high school students with news written from a non-Western viewpoint. In retirement he devoted even more time to singing in various choral groups, delighting family and friends with hilarious songs from his bottomless repertoire. Peter is survived by his wife, Lucretia, an honorary member of the class of ’51.