Tom Peters, retired writer and editorial assistant for The Inquirer sports department, has died at 75
He spent 30 years writing short stories, compiling sports statistics, and answering the phones on the 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. night shift.
Tom Peters, 75, of West Deptford, retired writer and longtime editorial assistant for The Inquirer sports department, die-hard Phillies fan, Civil War enthusiast, and generous mentor, died Wednesday, April 8, of complications from cancer at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.
Born and reared in South Jersey, Mr. Peters worked briefly at the Charlotte Observer after college and then spent 30 years, from the mid-1970s to his retirement in 2008, writing short stories, compiling sports statistics, answering the phones, and generally keeping things shipshape for editors and reporters on the 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. night shift in The Inquirer’s sports department.
Stationed at a desk just outside the editor’s office in the old 400 N. Broad Street building, he wrote book reviews and short stories called Quick Kicks for the sports section in the late 1970s, and worked briefly with The Inquirer’s old Action Line staff. In 2005, he compiled news briefs for the paper’s South Jersey Neighbors sections.
Mr. Peters was dependable, organized, and collegial, former sports colleagues said. He was quiet and smart. They praised his work ethic and willingness to mentor young protégés in the art of coding agate type for the scoreboard page, placating angry telephone callers, hitting deadlines, and juggling the other night shift duties.
They called him a “complete professional” and “a good guy, funny and kind” in Facebook tributes. They noted his “calm demeanor under extreme deadline pressure.”
Onetime Inquirer night shift editor Jim Swan said on Facebook: “Great sense of humor. I cannot help smiling whenever I think of him.”
Mr. Peters was a loud and proud Phillies fan for years, and it was common in the office, when a question about the team could not be answered, to hear someone say, “Ask Tom.”
In 1983, he collected detailed facts and stats for a story about every Major League Baseball pitcher who won at least 300 games. In 1986, he compiled a comprehensive history of the Major League Baseball all-star game.
In 1995, he assembled exhaustive biographies to celebrate the induction of former Phillies stars Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt into the Baseball Hall of Fame. “Tom Peters was a legend,” Eagles beat writer Jeff McLane said. “He had an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball, especially when it came to stats. His advocacy for Lefty Grove as the greatest pitcher of all time, supported by countless numbers, crushed anyone who dared to argue otherwise.”
On the other hand, Mr. Peters never passed up a chance to say “hockey sucks” when the office Flyers fans got into a debate. He also jokingly reminded fellow night shifters during every Summer Olympics that his two least favorite sports were “track and field.”
Inquirer staffer Reid Tuvim, a former editor in the sports department, said Mr. Peters “used to grumble about hating all the other local teams. But that didn’t stop him from doing his work well.”
Thomas Arthur Peters was born April 4, 1951, in Hainesport, N.J. He graduated from Rancocas Valley Regional High School in 1969 and earned a bachelor’s degree at James Madison University in Virginia.
He married and divorced, and met Nancy Gerrity during a dart league competition in Philadelphia in 1992. They married in 2003 and spent memorable vacations in Cape May and Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
“They were best friends,” said her son, Stephen Bach. “They were devoted to each other.”
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Mr. Peters was a lifelong student of Civil War history, and he and his wife visited the historic battle sites at Gettysburg, Harpers Ferry, and Antietam, Md. He played darts competitively, followed current events, and was a huge fan of the Beatles and other bands from the British Invasion of the 1960s.
He liked to cook on Thanksgiving and Christmas, dress up on Halloween, and stay in touch with former high school classmates. He regularly announced on Facebook when he and his wife were heading out for happy hour and dinner at the Riverwinds restaurant in West Deptford, and he joked online recently about how his bouts with cancer interfered with his social life.
“Treatments have had a negative impact on happy hour,” he posted on Jan. 10. “I am trying to convince radiation to make house calls.” A week later, he posted: “Luckily with my lifestyle I don’t need a lot of energy.”
Bach said: “He was quiet, mostly a listener but quick with dad jokes. He was a man of routine.”
One of his favorite sayings was: “Nobody told me not to.”
No services are planned for Mr. Peters. A sister and a brother died earlier.
Donations in his name may be made to the Lenfest Institute, 100 S. Independence Mall West, Suite 600, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106.
