PEELER WILLIAM F. PEELER A mainstay in the newsroom of the old Washington Star, died February 12, 2012 peacefully at home after multiple long illnesses. Mr. Peeler served as sports editor of the Star from 1961 to 1971. He ended up as news editor, editing the front page and the A section for the paper's last five years. He worked almost 30 years for the Star. Mr. Peeler started his newspaper career in 1938 as a sportswriter for the Salisbury, NC, Post. He became Sports Editor the next year. He moved to the Greensboro Daily News as assistant sports editor in 1943 and six months later was named the telegraph editor. In 1945 he joined the Allentown (PA) Morning Call, where he spent four years as telegraph editor and three years as assistant city editor before moving to Washington. As Sports Editor he persuaded the management of the Star and Gen. Pete Quesada, then running the Senators, to sponsor a Knothole Club for youngsters. Some 53,000 membership applications were sent to the Star. The kids could attend games free on some Saturdays. After two seasons the program was dropped because too many parents dropped off youngsters and left, creating the possibility of liabilities.
