Episode 4: Journalist/Archivist Peter Hartlaub

Photos by Michelle Kilfeather (photo of Graham Cowley by Mark Costantini)

​We all pay our dues somehow. In 1999, budding reporter Peter Hartlaub needed to prove his mettle. He pitched and was assigned a feature story about the San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office, which had been the subject of some bad press in recent months. The experience turned out to be enough for Peter to realize just what type of journalist he needed to be.

Part 1 is all about the origins and background of his ride-alongs with Medical Examiner's Office investigators Graham Cowley and Bill Tolliver, including Peter's first exposure to their work, and a Peter Rabbit reference.

In Part 2 of this three-part episode, Peter describes the first time Medical Examiner's Office investigators paged him to a "scene." It turned out to be not quite what Peter expected.

Part 3 is Peter's story about his experiences with Medical Examiner's Office investigators back in 1999.

To read the story that Peter wrote about his ride-alongs, go here: "In City's brutal underside, death is still a delicate matter." And you can listen to the first two parts here: Part 1 and Part 2.

We recorded Peter's stories in the basement of the Chronicle building, among the photo archives seen in the photo above.