Peter Y. Sussman (www.peterysussman.com), 65, spent 29 years as an editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, leaving in 1993 to pursue an independent career writing and editing. He has continued to devote much of his time to journalism, as a freelance writer and editor, as a teacher and mentor, and — often through professional organizations — as an expert and advocate on issues related to press freedom and journalism ethics and diversity. He has received many local and national honors for his work, both before and since leaving the Chronicle. His most recent book, Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford, was published in October 2006 by Alfred A. Knopf in the United States and a month later by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in Britain.