Peter Maas

1929 - 2001

Peter Maas was born in New York City on June 27, 1929. He grew up in the multicultural Hamilton Heights area of New York City's Upper West Side, before attending Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. A political science major, Maas worked for the university newspaper, the Duke Chronicle during his studies, where his journalistic ambitions became clear. Following graduation, Maas moved to Paris in 1950 to study at the Sorbonne, filing stories for The New York Herald Tribune at the same time.

This was followed by a military detour: during the Korean War he voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served from 1952 to 1954. Eventually he found his way back to New York City, where he wrote for publications including Collier's and Look magazines. Maas later served as a special consultant for the NBC television program 'David Brinkley's Journal', before becoming a senior writer for the Saturday Evening Post in New York City.

While working for the Saturday Evening Post, Maas secured a major "scoop", and a big break, when he learned about Joe Valachi, a Mafia "hit man" who was turning informer for the U.S. Government. Maas turned the story into his hit book Valachi, which put his name on the American writing scene.

Over the course of the next thirty years, Maas produced an impressive list of successful books including Serpico, Father and Son and Underboss. Most of his works made their way onto best seller lists. Over the course of his career, alongside his books, Maas continued to write pieces for publications including Parade, George and Gourmet.

Maas passed away in 2001 in New York City. He married three times in his life, losing his first wife Audrey Gellen in an automobile accident and divorcing second wife Laura Parkins. He was survived by his third wife Suzanne Jones, and his only son John-Michael Maas, whom he adopted with Audrey Gellen.