Alan Coren
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Alan Coren (27 June 1938[1] – 18 October 2007) was an English writer and satirist. Coren was born in Cricklewood and later attended Wadham College, Oxford (where he was a "Blue" for the Oxford University Basketball Club), Yale University and University of California, Berkeley.
He was a regular panellist on The News Quiz and Call My Bluff and wrote both his own and the Notebook columns for The Times. Coren was editor of Punch from 1978 to 1987, and of The Listener from 1987 to 1989, and he also wrote for Penthouse and The Daily Mail. Coren also wrote an unsuccessful television vehicle for Leonard Rossiter in 1978, The Losers, about a boxing promoter.
His son Giles Coren and daughter Victoria Coren both followed him into journalism.
On the 15 June 2007 episode of The News Quiz, Coren said that he edited his own entry on Wikipedia every morning just so he could change his date of birth to make himself appear younger. There are a number of references to his being born in 1939;[2][3][4][5][6] however, the definitive source of information (The General Register Office of England and Wales) records his birth in 1938.[1]
After a break in columns from April to December, 2006, he announced in his Christmas 2006 column for The Times that he had been a victim of necrotising fasciitis.[7]
Alan Coren died on 18 October 2007, after suffering from lung cancer.[8]
Partial bibliography
- Waiting for Jeffrey (Robson Books, 2002) ISBN 1-86105-595-1
- The Cricklewood Tapestry (Robson Books, 2000) ISBN 1-86105-374-6
- The Cricklewood Dome (1998)
- Alan Coren Omnibus (1996)
- A Bit on the Side (1995)
- Alan Coren's Sunday Best (1993)
- Toujours Cricklewood? (1993)
- A Year in Cricklewood (1991)
- More Like Old Times (1990)
- Seems Like Old Times: a Year in the Life of Alan Coren (1989)
- Bumf (1984)
- The Cricklewood Diet (1982)
- Tissues for Men (1981)
- Rhinestone as Big as the Ritz (1979)
- Lady from Stalingrad Mansions (1978)
- All Except The Bastard (1978)
- Golfing for Cats (1975)
- The Sanity Inspector (1974)
- Idi Amin Bulletins (Punch 1973)
- The Dog It Was That Died (1965)
References
- ^ a b Index of Births registered in the July – September quarter 1938. General Register Office of England and Wales.
- ^ Fantastic Fiction: Alan Coren 1939
- ^ Alan Coren: a brief biography
- ^ Anecdote Alan Coren Golfing for Cats Coren, Alan (1939-)
- ^ Media quotations:C: Alan Coren:1939- ; British humorous writer (with picture)
- ^ British Writer Quotes: Alan Coren Quotes 1939-
- ^ "Notebook: Before I was so rudely interrupted". The Times. December 2006.
- ^ Broadcaster Alan Coren dies at 69
External links
- The Times - Alan Coren column archives
- Alan Coren - Obituary and Public Tribute