Peter Kobel passed away peacefully on February 9, 2020 in Amherst, MA at the age of 67. He was born in Phoenix, AZ and received degrees in English Literature from Arizona State University.

As a peripatetic journalist, he covered music, movies and books for the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, before finally taking root in New York City, where he rose quickly to Editor at several highly regarded publications, including Premiere, Saveur, ARTnews, and Entertainment Weekly.

Ultimately unable to resist the siren songs of the natural world he’d loved from youth, he packed bags for western Massachusetts.

“Silent Movies: The Birth of Film and the Triumph of Movie Culture” (Little, Brown, 2007), his first highly-acclaimed foray into book length writing would soon be followed by “The Strange Case of the Mad Professor: A True Tale of Endangered Species, Illegal Drugs, and Attempted Murder” (Globe Pequot Press, 2013). Writing them allowed him to further explore two life-long interests: the history of film and the wild lemurs of Madagascar.

A creative spirit, scholar, humanist and adventurer, Peter will also be remembered as a kind and loving life partner, a steadfast friend, a devoted father and brother, who lived a rich, meaningful and ultimately inspiring life.

He is survived by his life partner, Ruta Duncia, his daughter, Olivia Hart-Kobel, his sister, Susan Kobel Rogers, his niece and nephew, Christine (Chrissy) Rogers and James (Rusty) Rogers, Jr., along with their respective families, and Izzy, his latest rescue beagle. He is much loved and will be greatly missed.

Known for his wry humor and easy erudition, his last letters always ended with a paraphrase of Shakespeare’s bemusing stage direction: “ – Exit, Pursued by Bears.”