PORT TOWNSEND — Peter Simpson, the driving force behind the Port Townsend Film Festival and a leader in a variety of community projects, has died.
The artistic director of the Port Townsend Film Festival died unexpectedly of cardiac arrest at his Port Townsend home on Thursday. He was 74.
“He was the perfect person for running the film festival,” said Rocky Friedman, owner of the Rose Theatre in Port Townsend — and one of the festival founders — of his lifelong friend.
“It’s one of the huge reasons the Port Townsend Film Festival was successful,” Friedman added. “It’s because Peter was in charge.”
Mr. Simpson was on the ground floor of the creation of the festival, which opened for its first season in 2000.
He was responsible for bringing to the seaside Victorian town such luminaries as actress Debra Winger in 2005 — Winger starred in “An Officer and a Gentleman,” which was filmed in Port Townsend — Tony Curtis, for the inaugural festival in 2000, Eva Marie Saint in 2001, actor and director Peter Fonda in 2003, actor Malcolm McDowell in 2006 and actor Elliott Gould in 2007, among many others.
Mr. Simpson’s unexpected death has created “a very sad time for a lot of people in Port Townsend,” Friedman said.
Others close to the festival say they plan to keep the event going.
“The 10th anniversary was his goal,” said Toby Jordan, president of the festival board.
“He had a lot of big plans for this festival, and we’re going to carry them out.”
Mr. Simpson’s widow, Pat Simpson, said Friday that she didn’t want to share anything personal about her husband now.
“He really was a great guy,” she said. “There’s going to be so much coming out about what he’s done that nothing will be missing.”
Involved in community
Born in Fairbanks, Alaska on Aug. 12, 1934, Mr. Simpson lived in Port Townsend for 40 years, first moving to the city in 1959 with his wife, who he met at the University of Washington in 1952.
In 1968, the two moved to Reston, Va., but returned to Port Townsend a decade later, in 1978.
Over the years, Mr. Simpson made an impact on many community groups.
He was involved with the Northwest Maritime Center, Olympic Community Action Programs, the Washington State Historical Society, the Jefferson County Historical Society, the Washington State Association of Community Action Agencies, the Washington State Rural Development Council and the Port Townsend Arts Commission.
He served on the board of the School of Athens Lecture series at the Rose Theatre, and was also the editor of a book about Port Townsend, City of Dreams, A Guide to Port Townsend.
Film festival
But Mr. Simpson’s tenure as first, director, then artistic director of the Port Townsend Film Festival will likely be his most enduring legacy for most.
Mr. Simpson was the face, voice and drive of the festival for the past 10 years.
The festival depends upon volunteer labor, Friedman said, and so, “you need someone at the helm of the organization who is able to attract people who are able to attain those goals. … You need someone in that capacity who people want to work for.”
“I have encountered certain men in my life who have become friends, who have all been older than me, and they all have something in common: They have an inherent goodness, kindness and generosity about them, and one could not help but be brought into their orbit and to want to be part of what they are working on, to be friends with them,” Friedman said.
“There was just a goodness about him. There was not a pretentious bone in the man’s body and he made everybody around him feel comfortable.”
Mr. Simpson had promised that this year, the 10th year of the festival, would be a big event.
“It’s the 10th, so yeah, it’s going to be a big one,” Mr. Simpson said earlier this year.
Mr. Simpson laid out his plans for the milestone in February, promising an extra day and an opening day movie and party — hopefully at the new Northwest Maritime Center now under construction on the Port Townsend waterfront.
“I never thought we would be looking at all of this 10 years ago,” Mr. Simpson had said.
He had said that, when plans for the festival began in September 1999, it had little direction, with the earliest idea being to keep it just a community event.
The festival was founded by Friedman and Jim Ewing, Jim Westall and Linda Marie Yakush — who modeled it on the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado.
Mr. Simpson was on the organizing committee along with Erik Andersson, Nancy Biery, Michael Harvey, Sherry Jones and George Yakush.
Mr. Simpson “liked what it brought to this community,” said Terry Tennesen, operations director of the festival.
“He loved this community and he loved this festival.”
At the 2008 festival, Mr. Simpson choked back tears when discussing the death of actor Paul Newman — who died the day before the festival was to show the film “The Hustler” which stars Newman.
“The great thing about him, about Paul,” Mr. Simpson said, “the great thing about film, is that he will be around. Forever.”
Mr. Simpson believed that Newman lives on in his movies and members of the film festival believe Mr. Simpson lives on in the festival.
“I think by us continuing this festival, we do that,” Jordan said.
Services for Mr. Simpson — who is survived by his wife, Pat, 72, of Port Townsend, and his son, David, 45 — were not yet scheduled as of Saturday.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
Managing Editor Leah Leach contributed to this story.
