Peter Baker, Alias 'Eleftherios of the New York Times'

Eleftherios, of the New York Times

An Oberlin College graduate who worked for many years at the Washington Post before joining the New York Times eleven years ago, Mr. Baker is the proud bearer of 'Eleftherios' as his middle name.

To John Q. Public and Jane Sixpack this middle moniker may mean less than a thread of gossamer briefly seen wafting by in the summer sun, but to Peter Baker himself the name is fraught with portent and consequence.

For it is the first name of Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos, a revered figure in the Greek National Liberation Movement who became an elder statesman guiding the modern nation of Greece to prominence among world democracies. He also had a notable beard and mustache that bristled like an aroused porcupine. 

Mr. Baker is quick to tell anyone who asks (which is why no one asks him anymore) that Eleftherios is a derivation of Eleutherios, which has reference to the ancient deities Eros and Dionysus, and means, loosely translated, 'Liberator.' Or, in the Slavic tongue, 'Librarian.'

Mr. Baker has striven all his life to honor the great Greek patriot that he is named after; he dances the traditional kalamatianos at every wedding he attends, and tosses moussaka and tzatziki to his admiring fans wherever he goes. His dry cleaning bill is enormous.

Mr. Baker's hobbies include heavy breathing and woolgathering.

His family motto is:


Τι έχει να κάνει με την τιμή των ψαριών;

Which he prefers to translate as "A Fish in the Hand is Worth Two in the Pond." 


Mr. Baker's email response to this profile is thus:

"Ha, this is hysterical. My father (Eleftherios Peter Baker) will be delighted. Thanks so much for passing it along."

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