Peter Hartt, Times Argus sports writer, editor, dies unexpectedly
|
|
Pete Hartt |
Toolbox
By Susan Allen Times Argus Editor - Published: March 3, 2009
BARRE – Peter Hartt, 52, a sports reporter and editor at the Times Argus, passed away Monday. A memorial service will be held for Hartt on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Stowe Community Church on Main Street.
"Everybody was Peter's family," said Hartt's brother, Tim, contacted Monday. He said the service was open to the public.
Hartt had served as sports editor at The Times Argus before moving into a part-time reporting position last fall after enrolling at Johnson State College, where he was working toward a teaching degree. It was his second stint as sports editor at the newspaper, where he also worked in the 1980s.
At The Times Argus, he covered high school and college sports and especially enjoyed writing about auto racing at Barre's Thunder Road racetrack. He wrote a weekly column about racing during the Thunder Road season and was highly regarded for knowing the ins and outs of auto racing.
"He was fun to be with, fun to work with, with such a positive attitude," said R. John Mitchell, Times Argus publisher. "He was so knowledgeable about the community.
"He will be and already is deeply missed," Mitchell added.
Hartt was working out Monday at The Swimming Hole, a pool and fitness center in Stowe, when he collapsed sometime before noon, apparently from a heart attack, according to friends and family members. He could not be revived.
"He was Mr. Sarcastic, but he wouldn't hurt a fly," said Deborah Hartt, Tim Hartt's wife. "He was gentle, he was silly, he was a good uncle and a good brother-in-law. Pete was just very solid … emotionally he's very solid and loving."
Hartt began his second stint at the Times Argus after working as a reporter and editor at the Stowe Reporter in the community where he was raised.
"He knew Stowe so intimately that he was a terrific editor," said Tom Kearney, managing editor at the Stowe Reporter. "He understood not only what happened, but who made it happen and why it happened — and why they acted the way they did. Those were gifts that were hard to come by."
Kearney said Hartt wrote for the paper off-and-on starting in high school.
He was also involved with his father in the Greensboro-based 'weather sticks' business – he lived part of the year in a Greensboro home he shared with his father — and was a tutor at the Mount Mansfield Winter Academy in Stowe.
A full obituary will run in the Times Argus in the coming days.
51