A Life Explored In Words

I sometimes neglect the fact that few people know really what I have written, in total. Today, for example, a young man emailed me with this message: “How many books have you done Loren? I have only come across two.”

Memory and lists of things-to-do aside, one reason is that there are many ways to count the unfolding of my life that occurs via my modest library of written works. You can look at “how many” in terms of various editions, revisions, and reprints. Or you can view it from my point of view as an evolving body of penned experiences and discoveries, which to me feels like there’s always room for improvement and additions.

For example, the Paraview Pocket – Simon and Schuster edition (seen directly above) of Mysterious America reappears in 2007. The entire book has been rewritten, internally, often since 1983. New chapters have been added, some retained but expanded, and the actual text has been changed by 50%.

In the 1983 edition (pictured at the top of this page), the two mystery cat chapters totaled just 23 pages. In the 2007 edition, there are now over 60 pages of text in those two cryptid feline chapters, plus the new detailed listings of Eastern and Western North American mystery cat sightings. In the 1983 volume, there was no index, and in 2007, you’ll find about 275 people (from Arment to Zarzynski), places (from Abington, IN to Yakin County, SC), cryptids and things in small print over the eight pages of the new index. Are these different books? It seems like it to me, even though the books have kept the essence of the classic title intact.

For those that wanted to have a peek inside the unfolding of my quest, here’s my books, as of today, of which I am the author or coauthor:

Weird Ohio (NY: Barnes & Noble, 2006) – with James Willis and Andy Henderson.

The Field Guide to Bigfoot, Yeti, and Other Mystery Primates Worldwide (New York: Avon – HarperCollins, 1999) – with Patrick Huyghe.

Preventing Youth Suicide Through Gatekeeper Training (Augusta: State of Maine, 1998, 8th rev. 2005) – with Susan O’Halloran).

Child Maltreatment and Abuse Investigations for Law Enforcement Officers (Portland: University of Southern Maine, 1998) – with Kris Sahanhik.

Creating Kinship (Portland: University of Southern Maine, 1996) – with Sharon Kaplan Roszia and Annette Baran.

Working With Rural Youth (Portland: University of Southern Maine, 1989) – with Dan Porter.

Elder Fire Safety for the 90s (Portland: University of Southern Maine, 1991) – with Kathryn Buxton.

Working with Older Adoptees (Portland: University of Southern Maine. 1988) – with Karen Tilbor, Helaine Hornby and Carol Boggis.

Unattended Children (Portland: University of Southern Maine, 1987) – with Susan Partridge and Roy Partridge.

Teen Suicide in Foster Care: Coded Cries for Help (Portland: University of Southern Maine, 1987) – with Sally Brown, Robert Schroff, Carol Boggis and Anne Bernard.

Curious Encounters: Phantom Trains, Spooky Spots, and Other Mysterious Wonders (Boston: Faber and Faber, 1985).

Creatures of the Goblin World (Chicago: Fate/Clark Publishing, 1984) – with Jerome Clark.

Working Together: Community Involvement in Foster Care Case Review (Portland: University of Southern Maine, 1984) – with Barbara Sparks.

Creatures of the Outer Edge (New York: Warner Books, 1978) – with Jerome Clark.

For some years I have written introductions for several books, including all of the following recent titles from this century:

Also, I have contributed to others’ cryptozoological works as well, including these selections:

“Yeti: The Abominable Snowman,” and “Yeren: The Chinese Wildman,” in Peter Brookesmith’s (ed.) Quest for the Unknown, Vol. 10, Man and Beast (London: Reader’s Digest, 1993);

“From Atshen to Giants,” (with Mark A. Hall) and “The Occurrence of Wild Apes in North America,” in Vladimir Markotic and Grover Krantz’s (eds.) The Sasquatch and Other Unknown Hominoids (Calgary: University of Calgary, 1984);

“Nine Large Animals Discovered by Western Science Since 1900,” and “Eight Worst Monster Hoaxes,” in Anne Wallace, David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace’s (eds.) The Book of Lists #3 (New York: William Morrow, 1984);

“Phantom Clowns,” and “Kangaroos From Nowhere,” in The World’s Strangest Stories by Fate Editors (Chicago: Clark Publishing, 1983);

“Alligators in The Sewers,” in David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace’s (eds.)The Peoples Almanac #3 (New York: William Morrow, 1981); and

“Some Bigfoot Traditions of the North American Tribes,” (with Mark A. Hall) in Le livre de l’inexplicable by Jacques Bergier (Paris: Editions Albine Michel, 1972).

Most of my recent books are still in print and available from booksellers, bookstores, and the publishers. If you are interested in seeing if I have any of the recent titles for sale, which can then be personally autographed for you or for someone else as a gift, please write me at lcoleman {@} maine.rr.com Thank you.

Loren Coleman 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.

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