In "Raising Arizona," one of their earliest movies, Joel and Ethan Coen slipped in a subtle reference to Pete Peterson, a teacher who led a high school film society that included the future famous filmmaking brothers.
It's an interesting bit of celebrity trivia, but far from the only interesting thing about Peterson. His passions included books, theater, movies, music, tennis and civil rights. He had 60 boxes of books in his Minneapolis apartment when he died, said his son, Jon, of Big Lake, who calls him "one of the smartest people I ever knew."
Peterson, 87, died Sept. 15 of cancer in his Minneapolis home, surrounded by family.
He was born in Brainerd and was a teacher for 40 years, 31 of them at St. Louis Park High School, where he taught theater, cinema, literature and media production. He directed — and occasionally played small parts in — school plays. Former students speak of him with ardent admiration.
"He was just an incredible character," said Richard Grossman of St. Paul, a former teacher and now music and video producer, who was a student of Peterson's. They kept in touch for 50 years.
"He was, in many ways, larger than life," Grossman said. "At the same time, he was just down to earth and pragmatic."
"Pete Peterson was an extraordinary teacher," said Howard Walstein of St. Louis Park, one of a group of students who, with Peterson's help, established and maintained a local FM radio station. Several broadcasting personalities got their start there, said Walstein, who owns Total Entertainment Productions and Kidsdance DJ services. "It was his influence that allowed me to hone my talents early on."
Grossman remembers a home where "there must have been 25 or 30 voluminous hardcover tomes on Franz Kafka alone. No subject was beyond him, whether it was pop culture, music, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen …"
