Peter died of cancer March 16, 2015. He was the son of Harper Dowell 1930 and Barbara Rose and a descendant of Princeton’s third president, Jonathan Edwards.
At Princeton, Peter majored in English and was in the American Civilization Program. A writer for the Triangle Club, he graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. A Princeton highlight for Peter was an evening’s conversation with William Faulkner about the continuing impact of the Civil War in the South.
In 1961, he married Valerie Jean Fisher. Peter earned a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1961 and 1965, respectively. Ich Kuss die Hand, which contained the letters of H.L. Mencken to Gretchen Hood, was edited by Peter.
Teaching meant the most to Peter. He was an English professor and senior administrator at Emory University for 46 years and believed wholeheartedly that F. Scott Fitzgerald 1917 was the greatest American novelist. Peter’s lectures on baseball, an American metaphor, were a campus favorite. He helped establish Emory’s African American Studies department and Martin Luther King Scholars Program. Upon retirement, Peter received Emory’s Distinguished Faculty Emeritus Award.
In addition to Valerie, he is survived by his son, Jonathan; sister Wendy Moxcey; brother John; and three granddaughters. To them all, the class sends its deepest sympathy.