THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9503300171
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: Ron Speer
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Mason Peters' first major assignment as a reporter was to get reaction on the streets of Washington to the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president of the United States.
That was in 1933. Since then, the White House has been occupied by Truman, Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton.
Mason Peters is still reporting.
The stylish newspaperman turns 80 next week, but he works longer and harder at our Elizabeth City bureau than colleagues half his age.
And he writes with elegance and wit not often seen in these days of pack journalism, where rudeness makes reporters famous.
We met 11 years ago. I was a Norfolk editor and Mason had been assigned to write about nudists at a beach on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
From a phone booth, Mason dictated a story that began like this:
``Assateague Island's beleaguered nude sunbathers - the naked and the red - were given 30 days to turn the other cheek Saturday when officials decided not to enforce an anti-nudity law until July 21.''
When he finished dictating, he said: ``I suppose you're one of those young pups who will take a pencil and turn my story into journalism.''
``I'm not young, and I never try to improve perfection,'' I replied.
``What are you, an old-fashioned newspaperman?''
``I hope so.''
``Let's get together.''
We got together off and on, and my admiration for a real newspaperman grew each time I found out something new about Mason. He's crossed oceans under sail in his beloved ``Windwardstar,'' and circled the globe as a deckhand on freighters. He was into computers years before most of us would give up our manual typewriters. His ham radio license number is 2. He can quote poets and philosophers. He's an inventor and a war hero. He's comfortable with kings and with commoners.
And when he's decked out in knee-length stockings, walking shorts, khaki jacket and a safari hat, he takes us back to the age of adventurers. I sometimes expect him to walk up and say: ``Dr. Livingstone, I presume.''
If it isn't clear by now, Mason is one of my heroes. Maybe that's because at 61 I'm sort of an old codger myself. But the wannabees in the 20s on our staff worship Mason, too. Rare is the day that he doesn't spend a full day at work, often even on weekends. He's been a mentor to dozens of young people who sat at his feet and listened to a real storyteller.
And one story often is all it takes to let people know that Mason is something special.
When Mason wrote recently about lighthouses, his stylish touch impressed a big-city visitor surprised to find classy writing in a small-town environment.
``I thought it was an excellent piece, unusually well-written for ANY paper today,'' wrote Richard Teetsel, a retired television editor and producer from Buffalo, N.Y. ``I am a good judge of writing talent and I think you have it!
``I am curious at what stage you are in your career. If you are just starting out, I think you have the abilities to go a long way.''
I agree with Mr. Teetsel that he is a good judge of talent.
A longtime writer and editor in the nation's capital who has been with The Virginian-Pilot for 15 years, Mason Peters does indeed have the stuff it takes to go a long way in the newspaper business.
On Friday, scores of friends and relatives will salute Mason at a party in Elizabeth City marking the beginning of his fifth score of years. But I'm going to send him a birthday card, too, to The Virginian-Pilot office in Suite 9 of the Habit Building, 303 East Main St., Elizabeth City, N.C. 27909.
If a big story pops up, he may never show for his party.
Mason Peters is a newspaperman. by CNB