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Charles R. Pellegrino is an American writer, and the controversial author of several books relating to science and archaeology, including Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, Ghosts of the Titanic, Unearthing Atlantis and Ghosts of Vesuvius.

One of his recent books (co-authored with Simcha Jacobovici) is The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History (2007), a companion book to the Discovery Channel documentary on the same subject created in part by film director James Cameron.

Biography[edit]

Pellegrino, the son of John and Jane Pellegrino, was born in 1953 in New York, New York.

He obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees at Long Island University in the mid-1970s and claims to have received a Ph.D. at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand in 1982.[1]

Pellegrino's website states that he has taught at Hofstra University and Adelphi University's Center for Creative Arts. It also says he has served as a member of the Space Studies Institute and as a space-flight consultant at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.

He travelled with Robert Ballard to the Galapagos Rift after Ballard's discovery of the R.M.S. Titanic (in 1985).

Controversies[edit]

Last Train from Hiroshima[edit]

In January 2010, Henry Holt published Pellegrino's Last Train from Hiroshima, a look at the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima from the vantage of survivors.

The New York Times initially praised the book as "sober and authoritative" and as a "firm and compelling synthesis of earlier memoirs and archival material".[2] However, a month later the New York Times reported on allegedly false historical data found in Pellegrino's book. As The New York Times stated, Pelligrino's book:

… claims to reveal a secret accident with the atom bomb that killed one American and irradiated others and greatly reduced the weapon’s destructive power… There is just one problem. That section of the book and other technical details of the mission are based on the recollections of Joseph Fuoco, who is described as a last-minute substitute on one of the two observation planes that escorted the Enola Gay… But Mr. Fuoco… never flew on the bombing run, and he never substituted for James R. Corliss, the plane’s regular flight engineer, Mr. Corliss’s family says. They, along with angry ranks of scientists, historians and veterans, are denouncing the book and calling Mr. Fuoco an impostor.

— [3]

In addition to the issues covered by The New York Times, veterans of the 509th Operations Group, the Air Force unit which dropped the atomic bombs, issued a detailed list of substantive problems with many of the book's claims about the bomb and the Air Force personnel involved.[4]

The New York Times added, "Facing a national outcry and the Corliss family’s evidence, the author, Charles Pellegrino, now concedes that he was probably duped. . . . [H]e said he would rewrite sections of the book for paperback and foreign editions."[3] Despite Pellegrino's claim in The New York Times that he had been "duped" by Fuoco, further investigation revealed that Pellegrino had repeatedly mentioned one of the book's most disputed claims (a supposed fatal accident at Tinian Island on 4 August 1945) before Mr. Fuoco had allegedly confided it for him.[5][6]

On 1 March 2010, Henry Holt announced that it had halted publication of Last Train from Hiroshima as more questions arose about the veracity of the material. In particular, doubts arose about the existence of two westerners allegedly present in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing.[7]

Doctoral degree[edit]

After doubts about Pellegrino's doctorate were raised, Victoria University spokespersons informed the Associated Press, The Weekly Standard, and The New York Times that Mr. Pellegrino did not have a Ph.D. from Victoria University.[8][9][10][11]

In response, Mr. Pellegrino stated that the university had "stripped him of his Ph.D. because of a disagreement over evolutionary theory".[8] The university told The New York Times and other news outlets that they were conducting an investigation into the matter. On 5 March 2010, The New York Times stated:[1]

In an e-mailed statement, Professor Pat Walsh, vice chancellor of Victoria University of Wellington, confirmed that Mr. Pellegrino had been a Ph.D. student in the 1980s. “He submitted a thesis which in the unanimous opinion of the examiners was not of a sufficient standard for a Ph.D. to be awarded,” Mr. Walsh said. “Following complaints from Pellegrino, an investigation was carried out by the University. In 1986, Pellegrino appealed to Her Majesty the Queen. The case was then considered by the Governor-General who disallowed the appeal. Accordingly, Pellegrino was never awarded a Ph.D. from Victoria and therefore could not have had it stripped from him or reinstated at a later date.”

— [1]

Bibliography[edit]

Non-fiction[edit]

Fiction[edit]

Filmography[edit]

Re-released on October 1, 2002 as part of a 4-DVD set entitled Time Life's Lost Civilizations.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Rich, Motoko (2010-03-05). "University Rejects Pellegrino Claim in Degree Dispute". New York: The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Dwight Garner (20 January 2010). "After Atom Bombs' Shock, the Real Horrors Began Unfolding". The New York Times. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  3. ^ a b William J. Broad (20 February 2010). "Doubts Raised on Book's Tale of Atom Bomb". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 February 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  4. ^ "ATOMIC VETERANS INCENSED OVER FALSE CLAIMS IN NEW BOOK=EnolaGay509th.com February 2010" (PDF).
  5. ^ "Amazon.com: Customer Discussions". Amazon.com' 23 Feb 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "Coast to Coast AM Radio: Interview with Charles Pellegrino". Coast to Coast AM' Feb 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Lundin, Leigh (2010-03-07). "Fact, Fiction, Fakery". Literary Scandals. Criminal Brief.
  8. ^ a b Rich, Motoko (2010-03-01). "Publisher to Halt Printing of Disputed Hiroshima Book". The New York Times. New York. Retrieved 2010-03-05. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  9. ^ Italie, Hillel (2010-03-02). "Publisher halts book about bombing of Hiroshima". Yahoo News. New York: Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-03-10. [dead link]
  10. ^ "University denies authors PhD claim". New Zealand Herald 2 Mar 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ Schoenfeld, Gabriel (2010-03-01). "A Career Too Good to Be True". Washington: Weekly Standard. Retrieved 2010-03-08.
  12. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2010. ISBN 0805087966
  13. ^ Jacobovici, Simcha and Pellegrino, Charles R. The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History. Paperback ed. New York: HarperOne, 2008. ISBN 0061205346
  14. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Ghosts of Vesuvius: A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii, How Towers Fall, and Other Strange Connections. Paperback ed. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005. ISBN 0060751002
  15. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Ghosts of the Titanic. New York: Avon, 2001. ISBN 0380724723
  16. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Return to Sodom and Gomorrah: Bible Stories from Archaeologists. 2d paperback ed. New York: Harper Paperbacks, 1995. ISBN 0380726335
  17. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Unearthing Atlantis: An Archaeological Odyssey. New York: Vintage, 1993. ISBN 0679734074
  18. ^ Pellgrino, Charles R. Her Name, Titanic: Untold Story of the Sinking and Finding of the Unsinkable Ship. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Robert Hale Ltd., 1990. ISBN 0709042426
  19. ^ Stoff, Jesse A. and Pellegrino, Charles R. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic. 2d rev. ed. New York: Harper Perennial, 1992. ISBN 0060922605
  20. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. and Stoff, Joshua. Chariots for Apollo: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon. New York: Quill, 1999. ISBN 0380802619
  21. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. Time Gate: Hurtling Backward Through History. Paperback ed. Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Tab Books, 1985. ISBN 0830618635
  22. ^ Pellegrino, Charles R. and Stoff, Jesse A. Darwin's Universe: Origins and Crises in the History of Life. 2d ed. Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: Tab Books, 1986. ISBN 0830627731
  23. ^ Asimov, Pellegrino, Powell and others edited this work, which is a collection of papers from the American Association for the Advancement of Science May 1986 symposium, Interstellar Travel and Communication. See: "Bibliography." In Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski. Dyson Sphere. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999. ISBN 0671541730
  24. ^ "Movies: About Lost Civilizations: Aegean - Legacy of Atlantis". The New York Times.
  25. ^ `Lost Civilizations' Uses Modern Ways To Tell Ancient Tales - Chicago Sun-Times | Encyclopedia.com

External links[edit]