Peter Manso was an American journalist and author, born in Manhattan on December 22, 1040. He was a graduate of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio (1961) and earned his master's from John Hopkins University (1962). He then taught at Rutgers University for a year. He decided to focus on writing and earned his doctorate in American Literature from the University of California, Berkeley (1968). He wrote numerous articles for magazines. His work appeared in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Vanity Fair, the Sunday Times of London, Paris Match, and many other publications. His interviews with Edward I. Koch and Arnold Schwarzenegger had a stinging effect on their political lives. But he is best known for two biographies, Brando: The Biography (1994) and Mailer: His Life and Times (1985). His other books included Ptown: Art. Sex, and Money on the Outer Cape (2003) and Reasonable Doubt: The Fashion Writer, Cape Cod, and the Trial of Chris McCowan (2011). Peter Manso died on April 7, 2021 at his home in Truro, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. He was 80.
