Peterson hangs up his hat

Larry Peterson has worked for the Creston News Advertiser for more than three decades. Peterson, who has become well-known in the areas of sports, news, photography, social media, and as a long-time columnist, said during his time at the CNA he has entered through the staff door nearly 30,000 times. Today, when the writing veteran comes in, it will be to turn in his key.

An inspired start

Peterson was born in Fort Dodge. Even as a young person, Peterson read his local newspaper, The Messenger, as well as The Des Moines Register, with a special interest in the sports pages. Peterson said his Little League coach, Bob Brown, was a local sports editor whose writing he closely followed.

Peterson said his original plan was to study business administration and open a sporting goods store, but a timely word of encouragement from a high school teacher set him on a different path.

“We had an assignment in a composition class — I might have been like a sophomore — and it was to do a movie review of some movie that was popular then,” Peterson said. “And the teacher liked it and said something like, ‘I think you could have a future in this.’”

Peterson said after that, he started working for the high school newspaper. Brown’s son, Rick Brown, whom he also admired, began studying journalism at the University of Iowa two years prior to Peterson.

“I was kind of following in his footsteps, really,” he said.

Peterson received his BA in Journalism from the University of Iowa in December 1979. Peterson said he began his career at a time when journalism was more competitive, on the heels of the Watergate scandal.

“Reporting was a glamorous position that attracted a lot of people. ... People saw it as a mission. ‘We’re going to right wrongs, we’re going to uncover corruption,’” he said.

Peterson was hired at the Atlantic News-Telegraph as a news and sports reporter in January 1980.

Having been inspired by “new journalism” types such as Hunter S. Thompson, Thomas Wolfe, and Truman Capote who weaved fiction writing techniques into non-fiction reporting, Peterson said he developed into a writer who wanted to immerse himself into a story, not just tell it from the outside.

“That really intrigued me to write like that. Descriptive — take the reader to the spot,” he said.

Peterson said his editor, Phil Chinitz, was more of a formal writer known for his line, “Just the facts.” Because of this contrast of influence, Peterson said he became well-rounded, having not only a passion for descriptive journalism but also became more disciplined.

Peterson said for one of his first stories he interviewed Deb Imming, the program director at the Atlantic YMCA, who was also from Northwest Iowa originally. They have now been married 38 years and have sons Brett, 35, and Keith, 32, as well as two grandsons.

Peterson worked in Atlantic for four years. And then, CNA editor Pat Watkins hired Peterson after they spoke together at an Iowa Newspaper Association Convention. He began as a news reporter in September 1984.

In August 1989, the Petersons moved to Mason City, as he had accepted a job as the assistant sports editor. But they returned to Creston and Peterson to the CNA as sports editor the following year, as his sons were young and his schedule demanding. In 1993, Peterson returned to covering news, as sports kept him continuously busy.

“The sports needed to be set aside for a while because the kids were (growing) up and I wanted to help, I wanted to coach Little League, I wanted to get involved,” he said.

Peterson later returned to full-time sports for about a decade before switching to part-time news and sports in 2016, a position he remained in until now.

CNA snapshots

From covering Amtrak derailments to capturing drug busts on camera as he tails behind law enforcement, Peterson has done it all.

“This job gave me access to some giants of their industry,” Peterson said.

Some of his favorite memories include meeting prominent people such as former President Bill Clinton at Iowa State University, NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson of Beaconsfield, and drummer John “J.R.” Robinson of Creston, who was inducted into the Iowa Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and was a connection that led to Peterson meeting John Fogerty backstage.

“This job takes you to places you never dreamed of,” Peterson said.

Peterson said some of the stories he has covered over the years have contrastingly been heart-wrenching. The Sharp family’s service after the four were found dead in Mexico in 2018 was one of these tragedies, as was friend and former Southwestern Community College Vice President of Instruction Bill Taylor’s passing in 2019, which Peterson also covered. Peterson said one of his first stories for the CNA was covering Corinne Perry’s funeral after her disappearance in April 1983.

“The funerals I’ve had to cover have been the hardest. ... You just have to suck it up and focus on your job,” he said.

Peterson interviewed former Creston Police Chief Robert Kessler in his hospital room after he was shot during a standoff in November 1993 and was also present when Tayler Pettit collapsed and suffered a heart-related medical emergency after an Iowa State Dual Wrestling Tournament in February 2015. But one of the most memorable days of his career, Peterson said, was in February 1995 when he was on his way to simply cover district wrestling in Atlantic — or so he thought.

“Jeff Young, the editor, knew I was going to Atlantic,” Peterson said. “And so he said, ‘Hey, Pete. A guy overpowered a jailer at the Union County Jail and took off. And according to the scanner he was headed north in Adair County right now, and I know you’re going to Atlantic. Can you take the scanner just in case you hear something?’”

Peterson said he knew a shortcut to Atlantic via county roads. But what he did not expect was that the escaped criminal was making his way to Atlantic, as well.

“And he’s basically taking my back route as I’m hearing reports of the sighting of the vehicle,” he said.

And as he approached Atlantic on Highway 71, Peterson said he heard reports of a sighting in town.

“Now, here’s where the crazy part of the story comes through — I knew the streets, because I lived there! ... So, I get there, I know exactly where to go, I jump out of my car. They’re putting him in the police car as I get the photo,” he said.

Peterson said no other reporters were on the scene when the escapee, Stefan Greelis, was arrested.

“And then, I just have to like decompress, take a breath, and go to wrestling,” he said.

As for sports, Peterson said he has covered all of Creston’s state championships except for one in 1967, when he was 10-years-old. Though all were big events, the 1997 state championship in which Creston trumped Pella 74-57 for the Class 3A title stands out in Peterson’s mind.

“Everyone kind of rallied around that team. They had Kyle McCann, who became quarterback at Iowa, Ben Gerleman, who became an all-American college player — they had all this talent. ... And the championship night, it was just a sea of red in the Vets Auditorium,” he said.

Peterson said while returning from Des Moines via Stuart, he could see the long line of headlights as people made their way to the post-game celebration. Peterson said many were awaiting the team in their cars along West Townline and North Cherry streets.

“And when the bus came by, they would flash their lights and honk their horns. And the players said they almost got goosebumps. The whole town, it seemed like, was there to greet them and show their support,” he said.

Peterson said the tornado of April 2012 was another memorable point in his career because it had such a huge impact on the community. Peterson said he learned of the extreme weather from Creston coach and teacher Pat Schlapia, who was making copies for Peterson at the middle school when the storm hit.

“He thought he was in a bad thunderstorm or thought hard rain was hitting the building when he was up in the building making copies. But what was happening was, the tornado was coming through then, and what he heard was debris from those apartments hitting the school,” he said.

Peterson said when Schlapia noticed the damage to his car and drove to Peterson’s house to deliver the copies, the CNA reporter then knew there was a story that needed coverage.

“And I thought, this is crazy. So, I got in my car and made a beeline to the high school where he had just been in that area, before it got blocked off by law enforcement. ... And in the meantime, I think our editor, Stephani Finley, had heard something was happening and she went to the hospital,” he said.

Peterson said as he was covering the effects of the storm, he saw that the bus barn was torn apart.

“There was wood and stuff everywhere. Turns out, I had two tires go flat later that night because I’d driven over nails. ... The athletic field had bleachers and parts of scoreboards just all over the field, and then the middle school area had just junk everywhere from the apartments out by SWCC that got riddled by this tornado,” he said.

Peterson said though the tornado occurred on a Saturday and there is normally no Sunday edition, CNA publisher Rich Paulsen helped make a next-day evening newspaper happen.

“We had full coverage Sunday night in print. The press people were brought in and everything. And then, we followed up throughout the week with things,” he said.

Peterson said the staff worked hard to complete this monumental task.

“We were just so proud of what we’d done,” he said.

Awards

Peterson has been recognized over the years with awards in the categories of continuing news coverage, sports, spot news, column writing, and photography.

“All those tools that I felt like I was trying to bring to the table so I could help in any way possible, all got recognized at some point,” he said.

Of the many recognitions he has received during his career, Peterson said two awards stand out in particular. In 2015, the same year he was awarded CNA Employee of the Year, Peterson received one of the highest honors in newspaper work in the state — the Iowa Newspaper Association Distinguished Service Award. The same year, Peterson was inducted into the Creston High School Hall of Fame as a “Distinguished Contributor” after 10 years of writing about the inductees who had made the wall.

“It meant a lot to join my predecessor in sports at the CNA, Max Sandeman, and longtime KSIB sports director Gary Bucklin in that group on the wall in the fine arts hallway in the school. It was a pretty emotional time when I got the news I was joining that group,” Peterson said.

Retirement

Peterson said he and a friend were recently reminiscing about living on campus at Iowa in 1976. Peterson mused on how one of his classes that year was Introduction to Journalism.

“Intro — and now here we are, it’s over. It seemed to happen kind of fast,” he said.

Like with many, 2020 brought a changed perspective to Peterson. The timing of his retirement was influenced by both his seven-month layoff due to the pandemic and his own experience struggling through a moderate case of COVID-19.

“It made me think about the bigger picture. When you get around to finally feeling better, you start appreciating other things in life besides your job,” he said.

Peterson said the time off gave him a taste of retirement life, offering time for home projects he did not have before. Being ill shifted his priorities, including having more flexibility in the time he spends with family. In addition to his two sons and two grandsons, Peterson has two more grandchildren due in February, all of whom he looks forward to spending time with during retirement. He also plans to continue writing his column in the CNA.

Growing up in Fort Dodge, which had a population of about 30,000 residents at the time, Peterson said he always felt he would move on from there to somewhere of equal size or larger.

“I didn’t ever imagine living in Southwest Iowa. This is the smallest town I’ve actually lived in,” he said.

But looking back on his time in Creston, Peterson said it was the perfect place to settle down, raise his children, and pursue his career.

“I feel like I won the life lottery. I enjoyed doing it so much, it rarely seemed like work,” Peterson said.