Christopher Roberts, reporter, PR man

CHRISTOPHER M. Roberts, who, as an Associated Press reporter, was present at some epochal news events of recent history, died of a heart attack Friday.

He was 65 and lived in Doylestown.

After his reporting days, Chris turned to public relations.

He was director of communications for the Pennsylvania Crime Commission and public- information officer for the Delaware River Basin Commission.

In the latter role, he was able to indulge his passion for wildlife and the outdoors.

Chris was born in Philadelphia to Howard Sperry Roberts and Nancy Lynch Roberts.

He graduated from the Haverford School in 1960 and received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Wake Forest University, in 1964.

Chris cut his journalistic teeth at the The Mercury in Pottstown in 1965, but remained there for only about a year before joining the Associated Press as a reporter.

He worked out of New Orleans and one of his earliest stories was the shooting of civil-rights activist James Meredith in 1966.

Meredith, whose integration of the University of Mississippi in 1962 sparked riots in which two died, had organized a "Walk Against Fear" from Memphis to Jackson, Miss.

He recovered from his wound and resumed the march, joined by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders.

Chris later worked for the AP in Des Moines and Cleveland before returning to Philadelphia in 1971.

He was part of a team of AP reporters who were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Three Mile Island nuclear meltdown, the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history, in March 1979.

He joined the Pennsylvania Crime Commission in 1982, then went to the Delaware River Basin Commission in 1986.

He was responsible for outreach and education campaigns in the four-state Delaware River region.

He was a member of the National Association of Government Communicators, which honored him for a calendar he produced featuring the Delaware River.

Chris was an avid bird-watcher. His feeders at his home in Doylestown attracted a variety of feathered folk. Chris knew them from his extensive reading on the subject.

He enjoyed deep-sea fishing, taking head boats out of Point Pleasant, N.J.

As a child, he enjoyed family excursions to Bowers Beach on the Delaware Bay. He was also a dedicated gardener.

Chris often turned his flair for words to writing fiction. He produced a number of short stories, but never got them published. He also wrote a children's book that was illustrated by a grandson, Arthur.

"I thought he was a very good writer," said his son Matt. "But he only did it for his own amusement.

"His writing was very pithy. He could say a lot in four or five words.

"He had great wry sense of humor, and loved telling stories about his youth. People liked to be around him."

He also is survived by two other sons, Chris and Michael; a daughter, Natalie; his first wife, Ann; his second wife, Anne Palmer; a brother, Michael; a sister, NancyBelle, and six grandchildren.

Services: Memorial service 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Read & Steinbach Funeral Home, 2335 Lower State Road, Doylestown.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 120 Wall St., New York NY 10005. *