Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman | |
---|---|
Born | July 12, 1947 (age 68) Norfolk, Virginia, United States |
Nationality | American |
Subject | Cryptozoology, Forteana, folklore, psychology |
Years active | 1960–present |
Notable works | Mysterious America The Copycat Effect |
Website | |
www |
Loren Coleman (born July 12, 1947) is an American cryptozoologist who has written over 40 books on a number of topics, including cryptozoology.[1]
Early life and education
Coleman was born in Norfolk, VA, grew up in Decatur, IL and graduated in 1965 from MacArthur High School.[2] He studied anthropology and zoology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale,[3] and psychiatric social work at the Simmons College School of Social Work in Boston. He did further studies in doctoral-level anthropology at Brandeis University and sociology at the University of New Hampshire. Coleman taught at New England universities from 1980 to 2004, also having been a senior researcher at the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Policy from 1983 to 1996,[citation needed] before retiring from teaching to write, lecture, and consult.
Cryptozoology
Coleman writes on popular culture, animal mysteries, folklore, and cryptozoology. An editor of the Skeptical Inquirer said, "[a]mong monster hunters, Loren's one of the more reputable, but I'm not convinced that what cryptozoologists seek is actually out there."[4] He has appeared on television and radio interviews about cryptids. He has written articles and books on cryptozoology and other Fortean topics. He was a publicity consultant on The Mothman Prophecies.[3]
Coleman has carried out fieldwork throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico, regarding sightings, trace evidence, and Native peoples' traditions of Sasquatch/Windigo/Bigfoot. He has written on Yeti and Bigfoot expedition sponsor Tom Slick and appeared on NPR discussing the death of Grover Krantz.[citation needed] Coleman has won awards for this documentary and literary work.[citation needed]
Paraview Press introduced a series of books, "Loren Coleman Presents" in 2004. Coleman wrote introductions to volumes in the series.
Coleman contributed to the exhibition "Cryptozoology: Out of Time Place Scale", shown at Bates College Museum of Art (June 24 - October 8, 2006) and at the H & R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute (October 28 - December 20, 2006). He delivered the keynote address, "An Introduction to Cryptozoology", at the symposium at Bates College in October 2005,[citation needed] and gave a similar talk at the American Museum of Natural History in 2007.[citation needed]
Coleman is also a contributor/coauthor to the 2006 Bates exhibition catalogue and book, Cryptozoology: Out of Time Place Scale (JRP/Ringier Books, Switzerland, 2006). He also wrote the essay “Cryptids” for Alexis Rockman. (Monacelli Press, 2005).
International Cryptozoology Museum
Coleman established a Cryptozoology Museum in 2003 in Portland, Maine.[3][5] The first downtown location for the museum opened in November 2009, occupying the rear of The Green Hand Bookshop, a Portland general used bookshop specializing in science fiction, fantasy, and other forms of Gothic fiction.[6] On October 30, 2011, two years after moving onto Congress Street, it re-opened in a much larger space around the corner at 11 Avon Street, although it is still located in the Trelawny Building.[7] A newly built museum, located at Thompson's Point, Portland, Maine, is schedule to open in mid 2016.
The Copycat Effect
Coleman has a master's degree in psychiatric social work and was a consultant for the Maine Youth Suicide Program for nearly a decade; he authored several manuals and trained over 40,000 professionals and paraprofessionals statewide.[4] A specific concern continues to be cases of murder-suicide among the young as well as the possibility of clusters (e.g., teen suicides, school shootings, workplace violence, and domestic terrorism) and the influence of media coverage,[8] leading to his writing the books Suicide Clusters (Boston: Faber & Faber, 1987) and The Copycat Effect (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004).[9] He has been called on for statements in the aftermath of school shootings and how best to respond to the problem, mostly by the Canadian media.[10][11][12]
Personal
Coleman has been married three times, from 1968 to 1978, from 1980 to 1995, and from 2013 to the present. He has three sons and resides in Portland, ME.[13]
Bibliography
- The Field Guide to Bigfoot and Other Mystery Primates (NY: Anomalist Books, 2006, ISBN 1-933665-12-2)
- The Unidentified & Creatures of the Outer Edge: The Early Works of Jerome Clark and Loren Coleman (NY: Anomalist Books, 2006, ISBN 1-933665-11-4)
- Weird Ohio with James Willis and Andrew Henderson (New York: Barnes and Noble, 2005, ISBN 1-4027-3382-8)
- The Copycat Effect (New York: Paraview Pocket-Simon & Schuster, 2004, ISBN 0-7434-8223-9)
- The Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep with Patrick Huyghe (NY: Tarcher-Penguin, 2003, ISBN 1-58542-252-5)
- BIGFOOT!: The True Story of Apes in America (NY: Paraview Pocket-Simon & Schuster, 2003, ISBN 0-7434-6975-5)
- Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology (Fresno: Craven Street/Linden Press, 2002, ISBN 0-941936-74-0)
- Mothman and Other Curious Encounters (NY: Paraview, 2002, ISBN 1-931044-34-1)
- Mysterious America: The Revised Edition (NY: Paraview, 2001, ISBN 1-931044-05-8)HB 2004 (ISBN 1-931044-84-8).
- Cryptozoology A to Z: The Encyclopedia of Loch Monsters, Sasquatch, Chupacabras, and Other Authentic Mysteries of Nature with Jerome Clark (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1999, ISBN 0-684-85602-6)
- The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide with Patrick Huyghe (NY: HarperCollins, 1999, ISBN 0-380-80263-5)
References
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0171129/bio
- ^ Tracking what's hidden.Decatur Herald & Review, January 31, 1999
- ^ a b c Renowned cryptozoologist got his start at SIUC.The Southern, October 26, 2005
- ^ a b On Bigfoot's Trail, The Boston Globe, February 26, 2006
- ^ Hideous Objects Become Museum Art, ABC News, September 9, 2003
- ^ The Green Hand reaches toward mystery, Portland Daily Sun, September 22, 2009
- ^ Crypto museum opens in new location, WLBZ, October 30, 2011
- ^ Expert predicted 'cluster' of school shootings, CTV
- ^ Cycles of news and violence, The Boston Globe, November 14, 2004
- ^ Empty threats and real killings tend to follow U.S. shooting sprees, experts, International Herald Tribune, April 20, 2007
- ^ Need-to-know vs. sensationalism, Toronto Star, April 20, 2007
- ^ Colleges confront shootings with survival training, The Guardian, August 26, 2008
- ^ Loren Coleman.MacArthur HS Blog, July 12, 2010
External links
- Official website
- Website of Coleman's The Copycat Effect (now called Twilight Language)
- CryptoZooNews (Coleman's cryptozoology blog)
- Loren Coleman at IMDb