Peter Frederick Cannell, director of the Smithsonian Institution Press, died at his home in Bethesda, Maryland, on May 18, 2002, of a brain tumor. He had been an Elective Member of the AOU since 1988.
Peter was born in New York City on 17 September 1954. He attended the Buckley School and then Milton Academy in Massachusetts, where he first met Amanda Henderson; they were married in 1977. Peter’s interest in birds and the rest of nature was sparked at Bowdoin College, particularly at its research station on Kent Island, New Brunswick, under the guidance of Charles Huntington. After receiving a BA in 1976, he was an intern for several months at the Manomet Bird Observatory, spent the academic year 1977–1978 as a teaching assistant at Bowdoin, and then returned to Kent Island as acting director of the research station for the field seasons of 1979 and 1980.
In the fall of 1978, Peter enrolled in the Evolutionary Biology Ph.D. program offered jointly by the American Museum of Natural History and the City University of New York. His 1986 dissertation, "Syringeal Complexity and the Ordinal Relationships of ’Higher’ Birds, " was based on the comparative examination and interpretation of over 600 specimens representing 57 families and 22 orders of nonpasserine birds. Two shared, derived characters of the syrinx imply a relationship between parrots and colies and corroborate a previous suggestion of Robert Raikow, based on hind limb musculature. Using cladistic character criteria, Peter concluded that "there is no current evidence to support a close relationship between Piciformes and Passeriformes."
During his years in graduate school, Peter received extensive experience in curating the world’s largest bird collection, performed admirably as an outstanding and innovative teaching assistant at the City University, initiated an informal systematics seminar, and organized and taught a highly successful museology course. He also helped prepare for the AOU’s centennial meeting at the Museum in 1983. Peter was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Museum of Natural History, working with Richard Zusi on bird morphology and evolutionary systematics. In 1988, Peter moved across The Mall to the Smithsonian Institution Press, as a technical editor for the Smithsonian Contributions and Studies series program and then the acquisitions editor for the natural sciences. He became director of the press in September 1996, but resigned for health reasons in January 2002.
Peter’s most significant contribution to ornithology was as the editor and publisher of important books on birds and other relevant aspects of biology that increased both public and professional understanding of those fields. He also helped conceive and launch three new series: Smithsonian Series in Comparative Evolutionary Biology, Zoo and Aquarium Biology and Conservation Series, and Biological Diversity Handbook Series. In addition, he developed copublishing arrangements with foreign publishers, including the Natural History Museum of London, BirdLife International, New Holland Publishers (Australia), and Southern Book Publishers (South Africa).
Peter was a voracious reader, a tireless networker, intrepid and fearless at approaching the biggest names, and dogged in working with authors to finish their manuscripts. Many authors found his encouragement, vision, and editing skills indispensable.
Aside from his work, Peter’s chief interests were his home and his wife Amanda and their children, Tom, Oliver, and Louisa. He took a particular delight in how creatures related to one another. He could speak knowledgeably about most of the plants and animals found in the mid-Atlantic woods and shore. During the year of his illness, Peter’s values never changed. He accepted with grace the incapacities that came and went and came again. During a period of remission when his strength returned and he took to exercise machines, he said he intended to come back with a better brain and a better body. Another time, when he was very weak, he was asked whether there was anything from that experience he thought others could learn. “To look carefully at everything, “ he replied, just as he would have in health. Thanks to his energy and influence, many valuable books were written and published.
In addition to his wife and children, Peter is survived by his parents, a sister, three brothers, and their families. We thank Vincent Burke and Duke Johns at the Smithsonian Institution Press, Mary LeCroy at the American Museum of Natural History, and Richard Zusi at the National Museum of Natural History for assistance.
