Peter D. Bunzel ’49

Pete died July 20, 2015, in Los Angeles, one month after his 88th birthday.

He came to Princeton from Kent, and although his undergraduate career was interrupted by 16 months in the Army, he majored in history and graduated with high honors. Pete belonged to Charter Club, was chairman of The Daily Princetonian, and was a member of the undergraduate council and the Liberal Union.

A journalist and writer, Pete worked for The Vineyard Gazette, The New Yorker, Life magazine, Seattle magazine, and two Los Angeles papers. As the television critic for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner in 1986, he won a major free-speech case in the California Supreme Court. He described himself as “a self-professed liberal” in our 50-year directory, and he continued to write occasional freelance pieces after his retirement.

After the death of his first wife, Jane Cole, Pete married Suzanne Belcher Platt in 1982. She survives him, as do three sons, Robert, Jeffrey and John. Pete was predeceased by Jane and his oldest son, Cole ’75. We offer our sincere sympathy and deep condolences to them all.