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    • About Us

Peter Gelzinis

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Peter Gelzinis, a New England Newspaper & Press Association Hall of Fame member known as the news poet of Boston, is a longtime reporter and columnist.

Peter started working at the Boston Herald in 1972 as a copy boy and quickly worked his way up to news reporter after stints as a rock critic and movie critic. In the 1980s, he became a must-read news columnist for any reader who wanted to understand human tragedies and triumph in the streets of Greater Boston. He also traveled across the country to write front-page columns on presidential campaigns, papal visits, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Sept. 11 attacks, Hurricane Katrina and many more of the country’s major news events. By the time he retired from the Herald in 2017, he had filed more than 10,000 stories and columns.

He is a graduate of Christopher Columbus High School and Boston University.

A resident of South Boston, Peter continues to have a passion for telling powerful human stories, particularly those of the most vulnerable members of our community.

If you have an idea for a health news story or comments or questions about a story, please reach out.

Stories by Peter Gelzinis

Social Wellbeing

Lessons of service

A Marine reflects on finding purpose and brotherhood through volunteering

Patient Stories

‘If a free taco can help get people vaccinated, well, that’s wonderful’

A public health department finds innovative ways to ensure equity in vaccine access

Preventive Care

Battling a pandemic, with science and empathy

Health care leader Dr. Charles Anderson builds trust along with a vaccination campaign as he cares for one of Massachusetts' most vulnerable communities

Preventive Care

A healer welcomes a new weapon in pandemic battle

Dr. Jon Santiago, who serves in the hospital, military and State House, prepares for a new mission: Vaccinating his patients

Dispatches from a hero on the front line

Dr. Jon Santiago, the Massachusetts state legislature's only ER doc reflects on what COVID is teaching us about emergency medicine

Healthy Eating

Backpacks filled with love

A Springfield program feeds children – and is a lifeline for its founder

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