Abe Peck

Peck was born in the Bronx, New York on Jan 18, 1945. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history and pursued graduate studies before dropping out of school and into New York's East Village.

In 1967, he landed in Chicago, where, after driving a company car to the March on the Pentagon, he began writing for the Seed. He became editor soon afterward, and led the paper toward the Yippies (Youth International Party), a group that planned surrealistic-oriented events for the 1968 Democratic Convention. Despite a split with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin over tactics and transparency, he and other Seed staffers appeared in Lincoln Park throughout the demonstrations.

The paper was known for its colorful printing, artwork and comix.

{{cquote|"Covers ... favored bold images that told a bigger story instead of everyday photos ('Everyone knew what Vietnam and the military looked like,' says Peck). The inside could be just as striking, featuring poster-size pullouts with Day-Glo ink, gradient backgrounds, a wealth of major-label music ads, and intricate drawings.”{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2014/07/29/nymphs-pigs-and-mayor-daley-for-thanksgiving-the-radical-art-of-chicago-seed|title=Nymphs, pigs, and Mayor Daley for Thanksgiving: The radical art of Chicago Seed|last=Sisson|first=Patrick|work=Chicago Reader|date=July 29, 2014|access-date=2017-09-04|language=en}}}}

While supporting various movements, the Seed remained independent of organizational affiliation. "Although the paper was far left-leaning, it was known for its independence and impartiality on left-wing issues, not subscribing to a particular ideology, which was unusual for the time.”{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.brown.edu/hallhoag/2013/10/22/chicago-seed/|title=Chicago Seed {{!}} The Hall-Hoag Collection {{!}} Brown University|website=blogs.brown.edu|language=en-US|access-date=2017-09-04}} Eventually, however, the Seed grew increasingly radical and Peck left the paper in 1970.

Freelance writing led to an associate editorship at Rolling Stone magazine, where he edited, wrote features and edited the book Dancing Madness.Peck, Abe, and Suzy Rice. Dancing Madness. New York: Anchor Press, 1976. {{ISBN|9780385114783}} " In 1977, he returned to Chicago and worked as a feature writer, section editor, and weekly columnist at The Chicago Daily News and then The Chicago Sun-Times. He went on to write for magazines from Outside to GQ.

Since 2019, he has been editor and now editor at large of Inside Unmanned Systems (insideunmannedsystems.com), which covers the autonomous vehicle space. He previously served as a Master Series Contributing Editor for Travel Weekly.{{Cite web|url=http://www.travelweekly.com/Abe-Peck|title=Abe Peck: Travel Weekly|website=www.travelweekly.com|language=en|access-date=2017-09-04}}

He is a principal in the firm Peck Consultants, for which he has performed more than 100 audits of magazines in various publishing platforms.

In 1980, Peck began a career as a professor at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He held two named chairs and various departmental positions, as well as the founding directorship of the National Arts Journalism Program.{{Cite web|url=http://www.najp.org/news/news-advisory-board.html|title=NAJP|website=www.najp.org|access-date=2017-09-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120715171701/http://www.najp.org/news/news-advisory-board.html|archive-date=2012-07-15|url-status=dead}} He also earned tenure, in part for authoring the book Uncovering the Sixties: The Life and Times of the Underground Press.Peck, Abe. Uncovering the Sixties: The Life and Times of the Underground Press. New York: Pantheon Books, 1985. {{ISBN|9780394712178}} According to WorldCat, the book is held in 562 libraries.worldCat book listing [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/11532947] He has contributed to several other books.

In 2008, Peck assumed emeritus status and moved to Santa Barbara, California, but remains the school's Director of Business to Business Communication.Medill Faculty Listing [http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/about/faculty-and-staff/?searchppl=Peck#] He co-edited Medill on Media Engagement with Edward Malthouse.Peck, Abe, and Edward C. Malthouse. Medill on Media Engagement. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press, 2011. {{ISBN|9781572739864}}

In 2022, Peck and his team at Inside Unmanned Systems won a Jesse Neal award for best single issue in its revenue category for a science and technology package. Peck has been honored with a lifetime achievement award in 2008 from ASBPE,{{Cite news|url=http://www.asbpe.org/blog/2012/01/01/abe-peck-named-2008-asbpe-lifetime-achievement-award-winner/|title=Abe Peck Named 2008 ASBPE Lifetime Achievement Award Winner|date=2012-01-01|work=ASBPE|access-date=2017-09-04|language=en-US}} the business-to-business editors association, and was recognized as professor of the year in 2003 by the magazine division of AEJMC, the Association for Excellence in Journalism and Mass Communication.{{Cite web|url=https://aejmcmagazine.arizona.edu/awards.html|title=AEJMC {{!}} Magazine Division - Awards|last=Cretu|first=Lorelei|website=aejmcmagazine.arizona.edu|access-date=2017-09-04}} He is a member of the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame.

Peck is married to Suzanne Peck, and has two sons, Rob Peck, a digital marketer and Doug Peck, a music director.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/about/faculty-and-staff/faculty/abe-peck.html Web page at Northwestern]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peck, Abe}}

Category:1945 births

Category:Living people

Category:New York University alumni

Category:Northwestern University faculty