Strange Highways, Indeed
Posted by: Loren Coleman on October 3rd, 2011
Today, October 3, is my youngest brother Jerry Dale Coleman’s birthday. Allow me to take a moment here to wish him well and continued happy health on his birthday.
As to the Brothers Coleman, they are, from L to R, Bill, Jerry in the middle, and me.
Jerry Dale Coleman is the author of two books, Strange Highways: A Guidebook to American Mysteries and More Strange Highways. An original assortment of true unexplained stories from hauntings to monster birds, Jerry D. Coleman’s books reveal cases, hoaxes and introduces some exclusive tales of phenomenon. His first book was published on Halloween in 2003 from Whitechapel Press.
My brother Jerry became an investigator of strange phenomenon and bizarre events over thirty years ago, and has contributed to numerous books in the 1970s and 1980s.
His first solo article was published in the December 1983 issue of FATE magazine. He then created and produced the earliest of its kind in collector cards, Myth or Real in 1994.
He has written several newspaper articles, been a guest of numerous radio broadcasts, traveled the continental United States from coast to coast as well as to Hawaii, Mexico, Canada, Europe and the Bahamas Islands establishing his unique style while examining the unexplained.
Jerry likes to say he received his education “the hard knocks way,” because he never attended college. He become known as a candid, impartial, and pleasant interviewer, and a serious veteran monster hunter.
Jerry has done consulting work for a Discover Channel special on Thunderbirds.
Jerry D. Coleman was the first investigator to talk to Ruth and Marlon Lowe about the Thunderbird abduction. The description he obtained from the eyewitnesses was exacting and has been repeated often in the cryptozoological literature.
My brother, formerly of Decatur, Illinois, was able to interview Marlon, Ruth and Jake Lowe on two occasions in 1977, within hours of the incident. I returned in 1979, with Jerry, to re-interview the Lowes. Due to his involvement, he was quoted often by the media, in newspapers and in reality television programs. Of course, all he was doing was pushing forward as an investigator.
The best materials on the Lawndale incident, from the Coleman brothers’ field examinations, are found in the following sources:
(1) Creatures of the Other Edge (NY: Anomalist Books, 2006). Contains the first, original 1977 notes from Jerry D. Coleman.
(2) Mysterious America (NY: Paraview Pocket – Simon and Schuster, 2007). Chapter Two is partially the revised original Fortean Times article on the first interviews with the Lowes.
(3-4) Strange Highways (Alton, IL: Whitechapel, 2003) and More Strange Highways (Alton, IL: Whitechapel, 2006). These books have chapters on Jerry Coleman’s memories of his interviews with the Lowes in 1977, 1979, and his documentary television experiences.
(5) Thunderbirds: America’s Living Legends of Giant Birds (NY: Paraview, 2004). Mark A. Hall’s overview of the entire Lawndale incident is placed in the context of the other sightings occurring throughout central Illinois and the Midwest in 1977. Hall’s use of original source material sets it apart from other concurrent and later discussions from non-Coleman books, on these matters.
(6) “The 1977 Lawndale, Illinois Thunderbird Case” (2007). Jerry D. Coleman’s timeline on the abduction shares and organizes his detailed footnotes on the incident.
Born in Macon County, Illinois, October 3rd, 1951 at 11 pounds 14 and a half ounces, his mother called Jerry a phenomena! Now the father of four, he tends to agree with his mother’s first impression. An experienced outdoorsman and accomplished guide, his commonsense approach to the world around, serves him well. He takes pride in wearing no labels from organized groups, giving him the true freedom to speak his mind.
Jerry is shown, on site in red, studying the location of the Carter Farm “Bigfoot” incidents.
Jerry D. Coleman, above, and his book covers, below.
Happy birthday, Jerry.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Well, whaddayaknow? It’s my birthday, too! So, feliz cumpleaños tu Jerry 😀
Happy Birthday to Jerry. Loren. I went back and re-read the piece on Jerry Coleman’s condition and its turn for the worse and it brought me to tears. I’m so sorry for what you and your family are going through. I know from first hand experience what this dreadful disease does. My heart goes out to anyone who suffers because of it.
While re-reading the article from early May I have to admit that it blew me away just as much as it did the first time I read it. Its difficult to perceive how one man can be so brave and have it together during a time such as this. For Jerry Coleman to care about where his remains will go if he passes is just to heavy for words. What a strong human being.
As far as his illness goes, there is also a flipside to that coin. I strongly believe that nothing is over until its over! People who have suffered from equal to more advanced stages have been known to make come backs. Anything, and I do mean anything is possible. May God watch over and protect him.
Ray Val
Happy Birthday Jerry!