04/24/2015
When I interviewed for a position in the department in 1968, a trip to the Marine Science Center (or whatever it was called then) was arranged for me. Trish Morse drove me up and back in her convertible VW--that bit of excitement contributed to my decision not to live on the North Shore. The place was a shell, grim, but Pete was there and very proud of his new water system which was so good that fauna from the New England Aquarium was residing at Nahant while their system was being built.
Pete had recently given up his chairmanship of Biology to become Director. He and Trish Morse were the heart and soul of the place, keeping it alive and growing despite many obstacles.
Because my interests lay in salt marshes I never spent as much at the lab as I would have liked to. I made it a point to bring ecology classes there and he always gave generously of his time on these occasions. He always had a reprint or perhaps an odd harpacticoid for me.
Pete never forgot that he was also a Professor of Biology and taught courses and attended faculty meetings (greater love than this hath no man). Pete had a reputation among those of us who knew him well as a bit of an oracle “what did that mean?” and perhaps at Nahant as a bit of a curmudgeon. But these were a part of his educational strategy, and not his essence. He was a decent, hard, hard-working teacher and scientist. He loved his worms, slicing, watching, describing and, of course, collecting and teaching. He was funny, musical, social and lovable. I never spoke with him without learning something.
I still miss him.
--Ernest Ruber
