The Globe and Mail

Peter Cheney launched his driving column after 25 years as an award-winning feature writer, investigative reporter and news correspondent. His writing steers clear of industry jargon to focus on human experience and the passion of driving. (One of his most popular stories documented the day his teenage son crashed a $180,000 Porsche through a garage door.)

Peter has described himself as an engineer trapped in a writer’s body. After studying literature, history and economics, he spent several years as a professional Porsche-VW mechanic. Peter entered the newspaper business in 1984 after graduating from the University of King’s College journalism program.

Peter has covered everything from plane crashes to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is the winner of three National Newspaper awards for investigative and foreign reporting, and was nominated for a fourth in the feature-writing category. He is also a five-time winner of the Canadian Association of Journalists Award for investigative reporting.

Peter was born in Nova Scotia, but grew up around the world as the son of a Canadian military officer. He has lived in Germany, Africa, Belgium, the U.S.A., and 10 different Canadian towns and cities. Peter attended high school in Brussels, Belgium, where he edited the student paper and dated the daughter of Donald Rumsfeld.

Peter has a lifelong interest in technology, aviation and adventure sports. He is a former motorcycle racer, an advanced glider pilot, and the author of Hang Gliding for Beginner Pilots, the official manual of the U.S. Hang Gliding Association.

Peter has been married since 1984 to Marian Cheney, a music teacher with the Toronto District School Board (and the winner of a 2010 Juno Award as Canadian Music Teacher of the Year). They have two children, and live in downtown Toronto in a 100-year-old home that was structurally renovated with plans drawn by Peter. The house is still standing.