Brooks died Jan. 4, 2023, in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he lived for 50 years.
He graduated from Austin (Texas) High School as a National Merit Scholar, poet laureate, and UIL State Ready Writing champion in 1963.
Brooks spent only our freshman year at Princeton before transferring to the University of Texas at Austin. He wrote for the Texas Ranger humor magazine and was a member of the Army ROTC program. He graduated with honors in 1968 with a B.A. degree and a commission as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. In 1982 he received a master’s degree from Corpus Christi State University.
Brooks served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970 and retired from the Reserve in 1996 as a major. In 1972, he accepted a Harte-Hanks journalism internship with the Greenville Herald-Banner in Greenville, Texas. He started his long career in journalism at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times in 1973, where he worked as a reporter, editorial writer, and columnist until his retirement in 2007. He had a lifelong interest in automobiles and wrote a weekly car column, “On Wheels.” He also enjoyed the piano, playing popular music for family and friends.
Brooks is survived by his wife, Kimiko Wakatsuki Peterson; son Christopher; daughter Andrea Rios; and Anna Peterson, the mother of his children.