Peter Howe

1942 - 2020

Howe, Peter
HOWE—Peter Robert.
Peter Robert Howe, 78, of Litchfield, Ct., known by his large circle of friends as Peter, died of complications from multiple myeloma on Nov. 22 at Regional Hospice in Danbury. He was born in London, England, on Oct. 17,1942, and was a student at St. Olave's Grammar School, where he sang in the Southwark cathedral choir. He studied painting and photography at the University of New Castle-Upon-Tyne, and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
In the midst of mod 1960s' London, he became an assistant to fashion photographer David Montgomery. His career as a freelance photographer began when he met the art director of Nova magazine, who persuaded him to focus on photo journalism and gave him assignments that included coverage of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
In 1979, he moved to New York, where he worked on assignments for Sipa, a French photo agency, as well as for the London Observer, Newsweek and European magazines. He covered a wide range of stories, from the war in El Salvador to the Alaska Iditarod Trail Race.
It was then that he met Anthea Disney, a fellow Brit and journalist and the love of his life. They married in 1984 and became U.S. citizens in 1994.
Howe went on to become an award-winning photo editor. He was picture editor at the New York Times Magazine, director of photography at Life Magazine, and vice president of photography of Corbis. Distressed by the scarcity of outlets for photo journalists, he and Howard Chapnick launched Outtakes, a magazine that published black-and-white photo essays.
"The photojournalist's job is to recall events," Howe once wrote. "One of the problems of democracy is a lack of knowledge. People blame the media, but without them there would be no democracy."
Howe was the editor of several "Day in the Life" photography books. While he continued to take pictures, he made a seamless transition to author, writing two books about photography, "Paparazzi" and "Shooting Under Fire," the latter drawing on his experiences as a war photographer.
He then wrote a series of three children's books about the imagined adventures of Waggit, based on the stray dog he and his wife rescued in Central Park. Those led to three more young reader books.
Following a horse riding accident, when a brain injury made sequential thinking difficult, he shifted the subjects of his photographs to sea and landscapes, which were exhibited in regional galleries.
A gourmet cook, marathon runner, rower, dressage rider and classical pianist, Howe adored opera and the blues and was passionate about the Good Dog Foundation. Once a week for 18 years, he and his samoyeds Bobby Blue and Rocco visited children with cancer at Hassenfeld Children's Hospital NYU Langone.
In addition to his wife, Howe is survived by his daughter Joanne Howe and son-in-law Richard Bench of Harwich, England; his dogs Stella and Gracie; his champion dressage horse Let's Dance (Lulu) and friends all over the world who will miss his ready laugh, his impeccable fashion sense and his endless curiosity about everything from politics to history to literature and art.
Donations in his memory may be made to Myeloma Research, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, 6th fl., Brookline, MA. 02445, or online at dana-farber.org.