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Peter Greenough - Reporter for The Plain Dealer
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Peter Greenough was a reporter and associate editor at the “Plain Dealer.” His second wife, Opera Star Beverly Sills, described him as “funny, articulate and beautifully educated. And it didn’t hurt that he was tall, blond, and handsome.”
Peter Bulkley Greenough, a grandchild of Liberty Holden, was born on February 6, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father, Henry Vose Greenough, was a descendant of John Alden, who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620. Greenough’s mother, Emery Holden Greenough, was the daughter of Liberty Holden.
Peter graduated from Milton Academy in 1935, from Harvard in 1939, and from the Columbia School of Journalism in 1940.
He was a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, seeing action in the African and Sicilian campaigns. Upon returning from the Army, he was hired by The Plain Dealer, owned by his grandfather, Liberty Holden.
From 1945 to 1960, Greenough was a reporter, copy editor, business editor, and associate editor. He later moved to Boston to become a columnist for The Boston Globe from 1961 to 1969.
Peter married Clara Jane Thomas on August 12, 1944, in Somesville, Maine. They had three children: Jane Lindley (Thomasett) born on June 25, 1946, Nancy Vose (Bliss) born on August 12, 1949, and Diana Bulkley, born on February 17, 1952. Peter filed suit for divorce on November 1, 1955, for gross neglect and extreme cruelty. The suit asked that Peter be awarded custody of the three children.
Peter remarried Beverly Sills, a well-known opera singer of the 1960s and 1970s, on November 17, 1956.
During his later years, Peter managed family affairs, traveled a lot, and indulged in several other activities, including fishing.
Peter Greenough died in New York City on September 6, 2006, after a long illness. He was buried in Sharon Gardens Cemetery in Westchester County."He was the perfect mate," Sills said from her home in New York on September 7. "We had a good time together. He was a great, great fellow."