Personal Life
Peskin was born and raised in Berkeley. His mother, Tsipora, an immigrant from Israel, taught at UC Berkeley; his father, Harvey, was a professor of psychology at San Francisco State University. Peskin attended UC Santa Cruz. He is married to land use attorney Nancy Shanahan.
Before entering politics, Peskin was an environmental activist and water rights negotiator for a non-profit organization which brokered passage and use rights for tribal lands. He first came to public notice as president of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers, where he co-led the effort to save the Colombo building (it was going to be made a Chinatown branch of City College) and prevent a Rite-Aid drug store from moving into the Pagoda Theater. He is a member of the South End Rowing Club and an avid outdoorsman, having hiked the John Muir Trail in 2006 and 2007. Peskin can be seen most mornings in his Speedo swimming in the San Francisco Bay. He reassured San Franciscans after the Cosco Busan oil spill that the water was safe by stripping down to his Speedo and going for a dip in front of a local television news crew
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