Died January 4, 1988
College: Trumbull
Widow: Mrs. Peter L. Eisenberg
Address Not Available
I didn’t get to know Peter Eisenberg well until our senior year, when we shared a lovely three-room suite at the top of winding stairs In Trumbull College. We had some fine parties there.
Peter was first of all one of the most gentle souls I met in college. I doubt he had an enemy in the world – he was warm, open, and very trusting. His curiosity about the world and everyone in it was evident from his omniscient reading and questioning.
We fell into the habit of going together to the Hoots on Saturday nights at the art school – those gatherings where amateur musicians would get together to play and swap songs and techniques. I had come to the guitar as a fun break from other instruments and because I knew the ukulele, so would sort of play along from the sidelines. Peter was an assiduous learner; he worked hard at it back in our rooms and eventually became quite a good bluegrass player at the Hoots.
Castro took over Cuba. Peter became a local leader of Fair Play for Cuba, an organization trying to win some tolerance and recognition for Fidel’s vision of the country. This was a struggle fought out in the Congress and the administration, at a time when it was clear Castro wanted the respect of the U.S. and was willing to be part of the family of nations. We did our small part by going door to door that spring, up in the wilds of northwestern Connecticut, trying to win support for Castro and Cuba and gathering petitions. We didn’t get a lot of sympathetic hearings, but Pete never gave up trying.
When I learned he had gone to South America to teach, and where he lived out his all too short life, I imagined the Cuba involvement played a part in his decisions. Cuba remains a pariah here. When they come in out of the cold, I will lift a glass to Peter.
— by Steve Adolphus