Peter Cristopher

Peter Cristopher NORTH ADAMS Peter Christopher, 52, associate professor of Writing and Linguistics at Georgia Southern University, passed away Tuesday morning, April 15, 2008, at East Georgia Medical Center in Statesboro as a result of hepatic failure due to melanoma.Born in North Adams, son of Frances Caron and Robert Maroni, Peter had lived in New York City and Gainesville, Fla., before moving to Georgia. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in literature from Columbia and a master of fine arts degree in fiction writing from the University of Florida. Christopher was a writer-in-residence for the Writers Voice Workshop and a guest lecturer at Columbia University, New York University, University of Florida, and Portland State University's Haystack Program in the Arts. He curated reading series for the New York Public Library and La Mama La Gallerica Second Classe. He joined the faculty of the Georgia Southern Writing and Linguistics Department in 1998, where he was instrumental in establishing and building the creative writing program. In addition to teaching introduction to creative writing, fiction writing, and first-year writing, he created new courses and founded the Creative Writing Club, which fostered many new writers. He inspired countless students to challenge themselves as writers and as people through his demanding, yet encouraging, approach. In 2001, he won the Dorothy Golden Excellence in Teaching Award. He was beloved by students and faculty. He was the author of three books, "Campfires of the Dead," (Alfred A. Knopf), "Lost Dogs and Other Stories," and "Feral Angels." His fiction has appeared in Story, Raritan, The Antioch Review, American Literary Review, New Letters, The Quarterly, Story Quarterly, Columbia: A Journal of Literature and Art, Chelsea, The Nebraska Review, and Hunger Mountain, as well as numerous other journals, anthologies, and venues. He was a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Literature and a Grinter Fellowship from the University of Florida. His stories won the Mari Sandoz Award and First Place in Story's Short Fiction Competition. In addition to writing fiction and teaching, Christopher was an award-winning newspaper reporter and columnist. Mr. Christopher was a loving husband to Carolyn Altman and a wonderful father to Colby Parker, both of whom survive him. He also leaves his parents, of North Adams; two sisters, Susan Solari of Adams and Sarah Maroni of North Adams, and the extended family and friends who gathered around his kind heart and generous spirit. FUNERAL NOTICE: A memorial service will be held Thursday, April 24 at 10 a.m. at the Georgia Southern Botanical Garden, 1505 Bland Ave, Statesboro. Remembrances may be sent to the Peter Christopher Creative Writing Fund, #0775, Georgia Southern University Department of Writing and Linguistics, P.O. Box 8053, Statesboro, GA 30460.