Loren Coleman (born July 12, 1947) is an American cryptozoologist, author and television personality who has written over 40 books on a number of topics, including cryptozoology. He is also the President, Founder and leading Director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine. He has a background in social work and has also written on the topic of suicide, particularly the copycat effect.
Early life
Coleman was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in Decatur, Illinois. He was the oldest of four children. He studied anthropology and zoology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He moved to Maine in 1980.
Cryptozoology
Coleman writes on popular culture, animal mysteries, folklore, and cryptozoology. An editor of the Skeptical Inquirer said, "among monster hunters, Loren's one of the more reputable, but I'm not convinced that what cryptozoologists seek is actually out there."
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). Coleman is also a contributor/coauthor of the 2006 Bates exhibition catalogue and book, Cryptozoology: Out of Time Place Scale. He also wrote the essay "Cryptids" for Alexis Rockman.
International Cryptozoology Museum
thumb|[[Coelacanth at the Cryptozoology Museum]]
Coleman established a Cryptozoology Museum in 2003 in Portland, Maine. 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. 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 was still located in the Trelawny Building. The museum then moved again in the summer of 2016, opening in July on Thompson's Point. In 2022, Coleman announced plans to move the museum to Bangor, Maine, and in 2023 he purchased a building on Broadway for that purpose. The Streamline Moderne building is notable for being on the National Register of Historic Places. Initially, the plan was to move the museum to Bangor in 2024, but lack of funding delayed the move until April 2026.
Criticism
Justin Mullis criticized Coleman's assumption about a 1955 incident in which an Indiana woman was pulled underwater by something she did not see. Coleman claimed it was caused by a half human, half fish creature called a "merbeing". Mullis pointed to Coleman's reference to Creature from the Black Lagoon as an example of "how cryptozoologists think about science fiction and its relationship to the natural world".<blockquote>"Coleman has clearly used a scene from the film to prematurely solve an unexplained event, ignoring more plausible explanations, such as the possibility that Mrs. Johnson was attacked by a large fish or turtle or caught her leg on a submerged log. He also ignores the fact that Johnson’s story appeared at the same time the Black Lagoon trilogy of films was being released in theaters." Hill criticized Coleman's Cryptomundo website, saying that members "show blatant disdain for scientists and investigators critical of their claims". In reviewing a book by Grover Krantz, Skeptical Inquirer editor Robert Boston said of Coleman and Jerome Clark's book Creatures of the Outer Edge, "Clark and Coleman are every bit as gullible as Krantz, but at least they know how to spin a monster yarn so that the reader gets an occasional chill".
Suicide prevention
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 has specialized in the Werther effect, a phenomenon resulting in many copycat suicides following the publication of a 1774 novel. He has been called on for statements in the aftermath of school shootings and how best to respond to the problem. 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, leading to his writing the books Suicide Clusters and The Copycat Effect.
Personal life
He is married and has two children.