Alan Coren (27 June 1938 – 18 October 2007) In the introduction to Chocolate and Cuckoo Clocks: The Essential Alan Coren, Alan's children Giles and Victoria Coren conclude that their grandfather Samuel Coren was "an odd job man really" and had also apparently been a debt collector.

Coren was educated at Osidge Primary School and East Barnet Grammar School. Having won a Harkness Fellowship, he then studied for a doctorate in modern American literature at Yale University and the University of California, Berkeley.

Career

Coren considered an academic career, but in 1963 was offered a writing position with the humour magazine Punch. He accepted and worked at Punch, in various roles, for twenty-four years. He had started off his writing career by selling articles to Punch,

During the week in which he took over the editorship, The Jewish Chronicle published a profile of him. According to journalist and fellow Punch writer Miles Kington, Coren's response was to rush around the office, waving a copy of the relevant edition, saying: "This is ridiculous – I haven't been Jewish for years!"

When Coren left Punch in 1987, he became editor of The Listener, continuing in that role until 1989.

Death and legacy

Coren died from lung cancer in 2007 at his home in north London.

Coren is commemorated by a short road named Alan Coren Close, Cricklewood, London NW2 6GL.

References

  • Alan Coren at The Times