Daniel Cohen (children's writer)

Daniel Edward Cohen (born March 12, 1936 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American non-fiction writer who has produced over one-hundred books, mainly for young audiences.

Biography

Cohen attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he graduated with degree in journalism in 1958. After graduation he worked as a proofreader at Time Inc. before becoming an editor for Science Digest. In 1969 he moved to upstate New York with his wife, Susan Handler Cohen, to begin a career as a freelance children’s writer. The couple had one daughter, named Theodora.

Career

Cohen is well known for his books about UFOs, ghosts, psychic phenomena, cryptozoology, and the occult. Though Cohen is a self-described skeptic and onetime member of CSICOP, his books on paranormal phenomena take a more light-hearted, open-minded stance. Some of these books include The World of UFOs (1978), The Encyclopedia of Monsters (1981), The Great Airship Mystery (1981), How to Test Your ESP (1982), Phone Call from a Ghost (1988), Ghostly Tales of Love and Revenge (1992), and The Ghost of Elvis and Other Celebrity Spirits (1994). Cohen is also the author of the controversial Curses, Hexes and Spells (1974), which has appeared on several “banned books” lists due to its perceived advocacy of magic and witchcraft. Curses, Hexes, and Spells is number 73 on the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.^[1]

Cohen has written on numerous other topics, including sports, history, dinosaurs, nature, technology, and folklore.

He and his wife, Susan, currently live in Middle Township, New Jersey.^[2] By 2011 Cohen had suffered a stroke.^[3]

Pan Am 103

Cohen's daughter, Theodora, died in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. He and his wife Susan cowrote a book about it, entitled Pam Am 103: The Bombing, The Betrayals, and a Bereaved Family's Search for Justice.^[4] They frequently advocate for the victims in the press as well.

In August 2009, Daniel and Susan Cohen decried the release of the bomber on grounds of compassion, saying "I cannot imagine having compassion for a mass murderer and terrorist who killed 270 people." ^[5] Susan Cohen, in The Daily Telegraph adds, "You want to feel sorry for anyone, please feel sorry for me, feel sorry for my poor daughter, her body falling a mile through the air."^[6] After the Gaddafi government lost control of Tripoli during the 2011 Libyan civil war, the Cohens expressed satisfaction.^[7]

Selected bibliography

• Cohen, Daniel (1967). Myths of the Space Age. New York: Dodd, Mead. p. 278. OCLC 869771.
• Cohen, Daniel (1971). A Natural History of Unnatural Things. New York: The McCall Publishing Company. p. 148. ISBN 0-8415-2029-1. OCLC 481093.
• Cohen, Daniel (1974). Curses, Hexes and Spells. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. p. 125. ISBN 0-397-31493-0. OCLC 874211.
• Cohen, Daniel (1978). The World of UFOs. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-397-31780-6. OCLC 3202893.
• Cohen, Daniel (1982). The Encyclopedia of Monsters. New York: Dodd, Mead. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-396-08102-9. OCLC 8474196.
• Cohen, Susan; Cohen, Daniel (2000). Pan Am 103: The Bombing, the Betrayals, and a Bereaved Family's Search for Justice. New York: New American Library. p. 279. ISBN 978-0-451-20165-2. OCLC 43930114.
• Cohen, Daniel; Cohen, Susan (2004). "Voice: Theo Was on Pan Am 103". Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma 9 (1-2): 289–290. doi:10.1300/J146v09n01_35.

Notes

1. The 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000
2. Gilfillian, Trudi (December 22, 2011). "Middle Township mother pleased Libyans will help U.S. in its investigation of the Lockerbie bombing". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved December 26, 2011.
3. Degener, Richard (October 21, 2011). "Middle Township mother rejoices in Gadhafi's death". Press of Atlantic City. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
4. Allen, Jamie (June 21, 2000). "'Pan Am 103': Parents of one victim tell their tale". CNN.com. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
5. Corbin, Cristina (August 20, 2009). "Victims Families Decry Release of Lockerbie Bomber". Fox News.
6. Cramb, Auslan; Kirkup, James; Spillius, Alex (August 21, 2009). "Barack Obama's fury as Lockerbie bomber flies home a hero". The Telegraph.
7. Murphy, Megan E. (August 23, 2011). "Locals hope Gadhafi's fall means justice for Lockerbie bomb victims". Pocono Record. Retrieved August 30, 2011.

Further reading

• Dubin, Murray. "Parents Seized By An Anger That Never Cools Their Only Child Died In The 1988 Bombing Of Pan Am Flight 103." Philadelphia Inquirer. June 22, 2000.

External links

• The Daniel Cohen Papers from the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection of The University of Southern Mississippi (Archive)