Peter A. Brown passed away peacefully at home surrounded by family in Winter Park, Florida on July 23, 2026.

Peter was born in 1949 in Brooklyn, NY, the son of Philip and Charlotte Brown. After spending his early childhood in Brooklyn, he moved to Monroe, NY, where he graduated from Monroe Woodbury High School. He attended the Maxwell School at Syracuse University where he received a BA in Television Radio News and a Masters in Newspaper Journalism. During his time at Syracuse University, he worked at The Daily Orange newspaper covering Syracuse sports, which inspired a lifetime of deep fandom for Syracuse sports.

Peter had an impressive and accomplished career in political journalism. After graduating from Syracuse, he started at United Press International (UPI), eventually serving as the Connecticut State House Bureau Chief. He advanced into national politics as a political reporter with UPI covering the 1980 presidential campaign and the first year of the Reagan Administration.

In 1981, Peter was awarded a prestigious Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University, an annual program for select mid-career journalists to study at Harvard’s Kennedy School. Peter took great pride in his participation in this program and stayed in touch with members of his Fellowship class up until his passing.

Following the Nieman Fellowship, Peter cemented his voice as a leading national political journalist, serving as a White House Correspondent for the Scripps Howard News Service. During this time, he covered the Reagan White House, traveling with the President on domestic and foreign trips (including trips on Air Force One).. Peter eventually rose to be the Chief Political Writer for Scripps Howard, leading national political and elections coverage for 400 daily newspapers. Peter wrote a weekly column for the news service and made frequent guest appearances on television stations. During this time, in 1991, Peter published Minority Party, his deeply researched and insightful commentary on the national Democratic Party.

After 14 years with Scripps Howard, Peter and his family moved to their current home in Winter Park, Florida in 1996 where he became Editor of the Insight Section and a member of the Editorial Board for The Orlando Sentinel. In this role, he wrote his own syndicated column and continued to appear frequently on television for both national and local news stations.

In 2006, Peter transitioned to political polling, serving as the Assistant Director of the nationally-recognized Quinnipiac University Poll. In this role, he oversaw questionnaires and analysis for polls in states across the country. He continued to write, authoring a weekly column for The Wall Street Journal’s Capitol Journal Edition. Peter eventually retired from the Quinnipiac Poll in 2019.

Throughout his life, Peter had a deep and fervent passion for Syracuse sports, especially basketball and football. His fandom and superstition ran deep, and he was known to re-wear the same shirt (without washing, of course) for Syracuse basketball winning streaks. Outside of major family milestones, Syracuse men’s basketball winning the national championship in 2003 was one of his happiest and proudest moments, still bringing tears to his eyes even many years later. Peter also had a strong interest in investing in the stock market and real estate.

Peter was an only child and was pre-deceased by his mother, Charlotte, and father, Philip. He is survived by his loving wife of 37 years, MaryBeth, his daughter Charlotte and her husband Jack and their son Watson Philip, and his son Stephen, his wife Amanda, and their two children Elizabeth and Logan.

Peter deeply loved his family and they were his greatest joy, and they will all miss him immensely. May his memory be a blessing.

A memorial service will be held in the future.

Peter was strong and resilient, having survived three types of cancer, and he was always grateful for medical advances that helped him live a long and happy life of 76 years. In lieu of flowers, Peter requested contributions to the University of Florida Health Shands Transplant Center Program or the Syracuse University Men’s Basketball Head Coach’s Fund.