Source: Yale Class of 1964 'In Memoriam' Peter Jon Wallace was a son of Mike Wallace, the famed newscaster best known as the principal host of CBS's 60 Minutes. Peter Jon Wallace died on August 31, 1962, in Greece. His death was either at Corinth or on Santorini, depending on which of two conflicting versions you credit. A Yale Daily News article on Sep. 19, 1962, states: "Peter J. Wallace, 1964, was killed in a fall this August while hiking in the mountains near Corinth, Greece. Wallace was a member of the editorial board of the Yale Daily News, and had worked for CBS news. His last published work was an article on William P. Bundy. In addition to his activities in the field of journalism, he played tennis for Jonathan Edwards College. He graduated from Millbrook and was the son of television personality Mike Wallace of New York." Mike Wallace's biography contains the following excerpt: "It was the death of another son, Peter, 19, in a 1962 hiking accident in Greece, that prompted Wallace to turn from entertainment ¯ throughout the '50s he hosted game shows and interview shows ¯ to news. 'I felt I owed it to Peter,' Wallace says, noting that Peter had expressed an interest in journalism, which Wallace told him was a noble profession." ======================== Extract for the Independent, Saturday, September 01, 1962, Long Beach, California Peter Wallace, son of U.S. TV personality Mike Wallace, was found dead Friday at the bottom of a ravine seven miles south of Corinth. Greece. The boy would have been 20 years old Sept. 3. The body was badly decomposed. Young Wallace had been missing since Aug. 4, when he set out from a summer students camp for a hike to a mountain monastery. Police said he apparently slipped while walking a narrow path above the ravine and tumbled to his death. His father identified the body. The 44-year-old Wallace arrived in Greece Thursday. He had been notified by American consular officials that his son had disappeared. When word came that at body had been found, Wallace made the trip out into the mountainous countryside and there, in the ravine, he recognized his dead son. The TV star was close to tears as he said he would take the body back to New York "I'm returning to New York as soon as possible," he said. His son had come to Greece Aug. 2 on a summer trip with a group of French students. They drove to a summer camp on the Peloponneus Peninsula south of Corinth. There young Wallace stayed two days. Then he decided to hike alone to a Greek Orthodox monastery 15 miles away. Police said he obviously took a wrong turn and lost his way in the craggy back country. He left the main road, apparently seeking a shortcut While struggling up a narrow path, he slipped and fell, they said. ================================= Extract from the Lowell Sun, Monday, September 10, 1962, Lowell, Massachusetts Peter Wallace Buried in Greece PMARI, Greece (AP)-Peler Wallace, 20, son of Mike Wallace, f U.S. television interviewer, was buried near here today on a hill overlooking the rocky ravine into which he slipped and fell to his death last month. Hundreds of villagers arrived at the burial site by muleback lo attend the service. Village women in black mourning wept as President Andreas Papaioannou of Ihe community gave the last eulogies. Further up, on a rocky mountainside, stood the old monastery which young Wallace set out to visit a few weeks ago. He slipped and fell to his death. Mike Wallace and his present wife, and Mrs. Bill Leonard. Ihe boy's mother and first wife of the television performer, stood by the grave side as the eulogies were read in Greek. Last week a village committee decided to name the site after Ihe young American. A water fountain surrounded by Cypress trees will be set up where he died. The boy's parents will return to Athens today. Wallace said the party would return to New York lext Thursday.
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