Pete Peters passed away last Thursday at age 97, after a long, fruitful, philanthropic, visionary and gutsy life. After a successful business career, he turned?at age 75!?to the ?war of ideas,? founding (and underwriting) the Pioneer Institute, which is surely the gutsiest think tank in New England, and steering it into a key role in the education-reform battles of Massachusetts, a state which, thanks in no small part to his and Pioneer's strong nudging, has made remarkable gains in this sphere. (Pete's generosity went beyond Pioneer and Massachusetts, too. The Peters Foundation has done much good on multiple fronts in many places.) We at Fordham occasionally disagree with Pioneer but I cannot recall ever disagreeing with Pete. He and his wonderful wife, Ruth, were as cheerful and charming as they were persistent and focused. Meetings and conferences in which they participated?both together, so much of the time?would light up when they entered the room. And one could count on Pete, long after most people hang up their spurs, to nudge the presenters with important questions on issues that he saw as fundamental to the possibility
