Michael Peterson (author) - Personal Life

Personal Life

Michael "Mike" Peterson was the son of Eugen Iver Peterson and Eleanor Bartolino. He graduated from Duke University with a bachelor's degree in political science. He attended classes at the law school of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Duke he was the president of Sigma Nu fraternity and the editor of The Chronicle. After leaving Duke, Peterson took a civilian job with the U.S. Department of Defense where he was assigned to research arguments supporting increased military involvement in Vietnam.

In 1965, Peterson married Patricia Sue Peterson who taught elementary school on the Rhein-Main Air Base in Gräfenhausen, Germany. They had two children, Clayton and Todd. In 1968, he voluntarily enlisted in the Marines and served in Vietnam. He was discharged four years later after a car accident left him with a permanent disability. He received an honorable discharge with a permanent medical disability and retired with the rank of captain in 1971. During a mayoral campaign, Peterson had claimed he won a Silver Star, a Bronze Star With Valor and two Purple Hearts. He had all the medals, but said he did not have the documentation for them. The writer had claimed he had received one Purple Heart after being hit by shrapnel when another soldier stepped on a land mine, and the other when he was shot. Peterson later admitted his war injury was not the result of the shrapnel wound in Vietnam, but was the result of a vehicle accident in Japan, where he was stationed after the war as a military policeman. The News & Observer said records did not contain any mention of the second Purple Heart Peterson had said he received.

Michael and Patricia lived in Germany for some time, where they befriended Elizabeth and George Ratliff and their two children, Margaret and Martha. After George's death in the Invasion of Grenada, the Peterson and Ratliff families became very close. When Elizabeth Ratliff died in 1985, her two children became Michael's wards. Michael and Patricia divorced in 1987, Clayton and Todd went to live with their mother, and Margaret and Martha stayed with Michael who then moved to Durham, North Carolina. Peterson wrote three successful books, The Immortal Dragon, A Time of War, A Bitter Peace and Charlie Two Shoes and the Marines of Love Company. He also worked as a newspaper columnist for the Durham Herald-Sun where his columns became known for their criticism of police and the Durham County District Attorney James Hardin Jr., who was later to prosecute Peterson for Kathleen's murder.

In 1989, Michael moved in with Kathleen Atwater, a successful Nortel business executive. They married in 1997 and Kathleen's daughter Caitlin also joined the extended Peterson family.