Part 2 (Obituaries) - King's College - University of Cambridge

64
OBITUARIES
Peter was born in NewYork in 1954. His parents were German Jews who had
fled the Nazis and made a successful career in America. In Israel, German Jews
were called “yekkes”, because they would never take their jackets off even in
the stifling heat, and from his upbringing Peter developed a strong sense of
decorum and a reserve. Unlike many Fellows of King’s, he always wore a suit
and tie to College, was never seen late at night in his cups in the SCR, and
always taught with his door open.
But Peter himself constantly belied his conventional appearance – much as it
helped him in the corridors of power in the University and in the broader
community. He was a brilliantly funny speaker, loved jokes and joking, was
never pompous, and was, above all, far more intellectually open and engaging
than many who choose to parade a superficial liberalism. Many new Fellows
had the experience of being welcomed by Peter at lunch, with lively and
instantly friendly and sharp conversation – welcomed, that is, as Fellows to
fellowship: he thought hard about, and lived out what it meant to participate
in a community. There was no group that was not made better by his
engagement – an all too rare quality among the egos and geniuses of the
University. He was often disappointed and baffled by his colleagues’ behaviour.
Peter was educated at Fieldston School (with long hair, of course, as his
yearbook shows: this was the 1970s), from where he went to Wesleyan in
Connecticut to major in Philosophy and Physics. He was fond of reminiscing
about cycling across the USA, which took one summer of those years. His later
love of gadgets and particularly tools – he was always the one on a walk with
the screwdriver to mend the buckle – found early expression in keeping the
bike going. From Wesleyan, he went to New College, Oxford, for his BPhil in
1978, and DPhil in 1985. It was in Oxford that he met Diana. She was on her
way to becoming a successful banker in New York, and latterly a Fellow at
Newnham and then Lecturer in Jewish Studies at London. But they met in a
hairdresser’s, where she was working to earn some holiday money as a
receptionist. Peter’s friendliness and Diana’s drive obviously fitted together
perfectly from the start. They married, moved back to America, where Peter
took up a position as Assistant Professor at Williams College in Massachusetts
and where their two children were born.