Thoughts on Peter turning 60 with most of his parts intact:
First let me say I come at this as a biased Jewish New Yorker who always assumed that people like me ran the real estate business. Dress British, think Yiddish. So my first consistent contact with Peter during the JFK negotiations starting in 1996 came as a real surprise. Here’s this sharp dressing Italian guy from the Philly suburbs, and he’s got it down cold. He understands the motivations of his partners, lenders, etc. and knows how to craft a deal to suit everyone. He knows when to push his own agenda and when to work with the other guy’s issues. He sees stuff coming a mile before it happens. He can move the pieces around the board like Bobby Fischer. Enough of that. Suffice it to say that once I got over my initial shock, I was very impressed and I’ve stayed that way for 15 years.
And that’s just on a professional level. Peter’s one of the few guys that has found a balance between what’s required of him professionally and what he wants to do personally. His ethical beliefs come out every day at work in the way he deals with others and transacts business. You can see the love and respect he gets and returns to his family. He wears it on his sleeve. And he likes to fish. (I’m not sure exactly how that fits in, but it seems to be important).
Anyway, I don’t know if 60 is such a big milestone for Peter. We’ve made some changes in the business so he can spend time on other things he enjoys, but besides that he’s a pretty complete guy who doesn’t really seem to need a late mid-life crisis to get it all straightened out. Take some nice trips and enjoy your grandkids.
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