Blanco
03-24-2007, 09:27 AM
March 23, 2007
Robert E. Petersen, Founder of Hot Rod, Motor Trend Magazines and
Benefactor of the Petersen Automotive Museum Passes On at 80
Robert E. Petersen, an entrepreneur who single-handedly created the
largest special-interest publishing company in America, was instrumental
in the evolution of the hot-rodding culture, and who, with his wife
Margie, realized his dream of establishing an educational museum to pay
tribute to the automobile, died on Friday, March 23, at St. John’s
Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. after a short but valiant battle with
neuroendocrine cancer. He was 80.
“Mr. Petersen helped create and feed the American obsession with the
automobile, delivering gasoline-powered dreams to the mailboxes of
millions,” said Dick Messer, Director of the Petersen Automotive
Museum in Los Angeles. “He understood the thrill that an average
person could get from seeing and reading about horsepower as an art
form.”
A native of Southern California, Mr. Petersen’s mother passed away
when he was 10, leaving him with his Danish-immigrant father, who worked
as a truck and equipment mechanic. As a young man he picked up his
father’s skills, learning to weld, de-coke engines, and hone his
fascination with cars.
After graduating from Barstow High School in the mid-1940s, he moved to
Los Angeles, working at MGM studios as a messenger boy. Following service
in the Army Air Corps toward the end of Word War II, Mr. Petersen, now an
independent publicist immersed in the burgeoning customized auto culture
of California, was instrumental in creating the first hot-rod show at the
Los Angeles Armory. To help establish the event, in January 1948 he
launched Hot Rod Magazine, and hawked the magazine at local speedways for
25 cents a copy. Motor Trend, a more upscale publication for production
car enthusiasts, and dozens of other titles aimed at specialty automotive
segments soon followed.
Mr. Petersen spent decades as Chairman of the Board of Petersen Publishing
Company, which was at one time America’s leading publisher of
special-interest consumer magazines and books before its sale to private
investors in August 1996. Among its other diverse successful titles are
Teen, Sport, Rod & Custom, and Guns & Ammo. He also headed a wide variety
of other businesses including ammunition manufacturing, real estate
development and aviation services that each reflected another passion he
shared.
Firmly established as an American success story, Mr. Petersen had one
lasting vision: an educational museum to pay tribute to the automobile. On
June 11, 1994, the lifelong dream of Robert E. Petersen was fulfilled with
the opening of a 300,000-square-foot automotive museum named in his honor,
made possible by his $30 million endowment.
Today the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles stands as the
nation’s premiere automotive museum, serving thousands of visitors
each year. Its mission remains to educate and excite generations of auto
enthusiasts with the fascinating stories, vehicles and people that have
influenced the American love affair with the automobile – a mission
that has been a resounding success thanks to the generosity of its main
benefactor.
In addition to his noted auto collection, Mr. Petersen also developed a
keen interest in sport shooting. He served as Shooting Sports Commissioner
for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, where he was responsible for
building that venue from an old dairy farm within six months.
Mr. Petersen served as president and chairman of the board of the
Boys’ and Girls’ Club of Hollywood, and was a member of the
National Board of Directors for the Boys’ and Girls’ Club of
America. He was active in support of numerous children’s charities
and also served as a member for the Los Angeles City Library Commission.
Both he and his wife have been major contributors to the Music Center of
Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Additionally, he was
a founding member of the Thalians social society, which raises money for
the Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His ongoing
contributions to the community earned him numerous special citations from
the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles City Council.
Mr. Petersen was to be honored with both the ‘Automotive Icon’
and ‘Visionary’ awards at the Petersen museum’s annual
gala on May 10. The ceremony will now be held as a tribute to Mr. Petersen
and his contributions to the institution and community.
“What made him so special was that he gave every ounce of his energy
and abilities to his dreams. He was a quiet man who truly became an
American icon,” the Petersen museum’s Messer said. “He
made his living doing things he loved and he found success at every turn.
The way he lived his life, always looking for ways to give back in return
for the success he enjoyed, made you proud to count him as a friend. The
museum is now his legacy.”
He is survived by his wife, Margie. In lieu of flowers, the family asks
donations be made to the Petersen Automotive Museum or the charity of the
person’s choice in his honor. Funeral mass will be held Thursday,
March 29, at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Joe Molina
JMPR Public Relations, Inc.
(818) 606-0922 (cell)
(818) 992-4353 ext. 11
mailto:jmolina@jmprpublicrelations.com
jmolina@jmprpublicrelations.com
Robert E. Petersen, Founder of Hot Rod, Motor Trend Magazines and
Benefactor of the Petersen Automotive Museum Passes On at 80
Robert E. Petersen, an entrepreneur who single-handedly created the
largest special-interest publishing company in America, was instrumental
in the evolution of the hot-rodding culture, and who, with his wife
Margie, realized his dream of establishing an educational museum to pay
tribute to the automobile, died on Friday, March 23, at St. John’s
Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. after a short but valiant battle with
neuroendocrine cancer. He was 80.
“Mr. Petersen helped create and feed the American obsession with the
automobile, delivering gasoline-powered dreams to the mailboxes of
millions,” said Dick Messer, Director of the Petersen Automotive
Museum in Los Angeles. “He understood the thrill that an average
person could get from seeing and reading about horsepower as an art
form.”
A native of Southern California, Mr. Petersen’s mother passed away
when he was 10, leaving him with his Danish-immigrant father, who worked
as a truck and equipment mechanic. As a young man he picked up his
father’s skills, learning to weld, de-coke engines, and hone his
fascination with cars.
After graduating from Barstow High School in the mid-1940s, he moved to
Los Angeles, working at MGM studios as a messenger boy. Following service
in the Army Air Corps toward the end of Word War II, Mr. Petersen, now an
independent publicist immersed in the burgeoning customized auto culture
of California, was instrumental in creating the first hot-rod show at the
Los Angeles Armory. To help establish the event, in January 1948 he
launched Hot Rod Magazine, and hawked the magazine at local speedways for
25 cents a copy. Motor Trend, a more upscale publication for production
car enthusiasts, and dozens of other titles aimed at specialty automotive
segments soon followed.
Mr. Petersen spent decades as Chairman of the Board of Petersen Publishing
Company, which was at one time America’s leading publisher of
special-interest consumer magazines and books before its sale to private
investors in August 1996. Among its other diverse successful titles are
Teen, Sport, Rod & Custom, and Guns & Ammo. He also headed a wide variety
of other businesses including ammunition manufacturing, real estate
development and aviation services that each reflected another passion he
shared.
Firmly established as an American success story, Mr. Petersen had one
lasting vision: an educational museum to pay tribute to the automobile. On
June 11, 1994, the lifelong dream of Robert E. Petersen was fulfilled with
the opening of a 300,000-square-foot automotive museum named in his honor,
made possible by his $30 million endowment.
Today the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles stands as the
nation’s premiere automotive museum, serving thousands of visitors
each year. Its mission remains to educate and excite generations of auto
enthusiasts with the fascinating stories, vehicles and people that have
influenced the American love affair with the automobile – a mission
that has been a resounding success thanks to the generosity of its main
benefactor.
In addition to his noted auto collection, Mr. Petersen also developed a
keen interest in sport shooting. He served as Shooting Sports Commissioner
for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, where he was responsible for
building that venue from an old dairy farm within six months.
Mr. Petersen served as president and chairman of the board of the
Boys’ and Girls’ Club of Hollywood, and was a member of the
National Board of Directors for the Boys’ and Girls’ Club of
America. He was active in support of numerous children’s charities
and also served as a member for the Los Angeles City Library Commission.
Both he and his wife have been major contributors to the Music Center of
Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Additionally, he was
a founding member of the Thalians social society, which raises money for
the Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His ongoing
contributions to the community earned him numerous special citations from
the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles City Council.
Mr. Petersen was to be honored with both the ‘Automotive Icon’
and ‘Visionary’ awards at the Petersen museum’s annual
gala on May 10. The ceremony will now be held as a tribute to Mr. Petersen
and his contributions to the institution and community.
“What made him so special was that he gave every ounce of his energy
and abilities to his dreams. He was a quiet man who truly became an
American icon,” the Petersen museum’s Messer said. “He
made his living doing things he loved and he found success at every turn.
The way he lived his life, always looking for ways to give back in return
for the success he enjoyed, made you proud to count him as a friend. The
museum is now his legacy.”
He is survived by his wife, Margie. In lieu of flowers, the family asks
donations be made to the Petersen Automotive Museum or the charity of the
person’s choice in his honor. Funeral mass will be held Thursday,
March 29, at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.
For Immediate Release
Contact: Joe Molina
JMPR Public Relations, Inc.
(818) 606-0922 (cell)
(818) 992-4353 ext. 11
mailto:jmolina@jmprpublicrelations.com
jmolina@jmprpublicrelations.com