Peter Collier

Peter Collier, a prolific writer who midway into his career made a high-profile ideological shift from left to right, becoming a leading conservative voice as well as a publisher of others, died on Nov. 1 in a hospital in Sacramento, Calif. He was 80. His wife, Mary Collier, said the cause was acute myeloid leukemia. In addition to his wife, Mr. Collier is survived by a daughter, Caitlin Collier; two sons, Andrew and Nicholas; and five grandchildren. Mr. Collier, who often wrote with David Horowitz, was well regarded as a biographer of dynastic families. The two produced books on the Rockefellers (1976), the Kennedys (1984) and the Fords (1987), and in 1994 Mr. Collier wrote on the Roosevelts, with Mr. Horowitz contributing. BA English l96l (cum laude) UC Berkeley; MA English l963 UC Berkeley. l963-69–Instructor in Freshman English, UC Berkeley; l966–Instructor in English, University of San Francisco; l964–Professor of English, Miles College, Birmingham, Alabama. l967–Instructor in Sociology, UC Santa Cruz; l977-83–Visiting Writer, UC Berkeley. 1967-73–Editor, Ramparts Magazine; l982-85–Consulting Editor, California Magazine; 1992-2000—Editor, Heterodoxy 1986-91—Co-director, Second Thoughts Project, Washington D.C. (Organized a movement of former New Leftists who had “second thoughts” after a decade and a half of commitment to the “revolution” of the 60s; set up campus appearances across the county for this group; debated spokesmen for the Left before university audiences; published a newsletter, Second Thoughts; traveled to Nicaragua for the State Department to inspire the “civic resistance” to defy the Sandinistas; organized “Second Thoughts Conference” in Washington D.C in 1987, followed by “Second Thoughts about Race” in the same city, and “Second Thoughts about the 60s and Totalitarianism” in Poland in 1989.) 1992-97—Vice President, Center for the Study of Popular Culture, Los Angeles, California. (Did corporate planning; designed, edited and published a monthly magazine,Heterodoxy, and two quarterlies, The Defender and The Report Card; edited a series of books and pamphlets, including Deconstructing the Left and Stranger than Fact; set up subscription, sales and distribution systems; wrote direct mail and did personal fund raising; organized two conferences on the role of Hollywood and Hollywood politics in American life; appeared in speaking engagements at campuses across the country.) 1998-2006–Publisher and President, Encounter Books.