Baden, Michael M. 1934–

views updated

Baden, Michael M. 1934–

PERSONAL: Born July 27, 1934, in the Bronx, NY; son of Harry and Fannie (Linn) Baden; married Judianne Densen-Gerber, June 14, 1958 (divorced 1997); married Linda Kenney (a reporter); children: (first marriage) three. Education: City College of New York, B.S., 1955; New York University, M.D., 1959.

ADDRESSES: Office—142 East End Ave., New York, NY, 10028-7503.

CAREER: Writer, pathologist, educator, and television host. Bellevue Hospital, New York, NY, intern, 1959–60, resident 1960–61, resident in pathology 1961–63, chief resident in pathology 1963–64; City of New York, assistant medical examiner, 1961–65, junior medical examiner, 1965–66, associate medical examiner, 1966–70, deputy chief medical examiner, 1970–81, 1983–86; New York University, New York, NY, professor of pathology, 1964–89; Fairleigh Dickinson School of Dentistry, Hackensack, NJ, visiting lecturer, 1968–70; Albert Einstein School of Medicine, New York, visiting professor of pathology, 1975; New York Law School, New York, NY, adjunct professor of law, 1975–88; Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, lecturer in pathology, 1975; John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, adjunct professor of law, 1989–90, 1993. New York State Organized Crime Task Force, special forensic pathology consultant, 1971–75; Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Washington, DC, lecturer, 1973. Member, medical advisory board, Andrew Menchell Infant Survival Foundation, 1969–74; vice president, Council for Interdisciplinary Communication in Medicine, 1967–69; fellow, College of American Pathologists. Host of Home Box Office television series Autopsy, 1995–2000.

MEMBER: American Society of Clinical Pathologists, American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Society of Medical Jurisprudence, National Association of Medical Examiners, New York Pathology Society, New York State Medical Society, American Medical Association, International Royal College of Health.

WRITINGS:

(With W. Paul Haberman) Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Violent Death, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1978.

(With Judith Adler Hennessee) Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner, Random House (New York, NY), 1989.

(As Michael Baden; with Marion Roach) Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2001.

(As Michael Baden; with wife, Linda Kenney) Remains Silent (novel), Knopf (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Michael M. Baden has been at the forefront of advances in pathology and forensic science since the 1960s. In addition to being a professional medical examiner, Baden has taught at universities, lectured for governmental agencies, served on commissions reexamining controversial cases, including the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and hosted Autopsy, a television documentary series showing forensic science as applied to unsolved deaths.

Using his experience and findings as a pathologist to warn of the dangers of unhealthy lifestyles, Baden cowrote Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Violent Death and Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner. Both books detail the results of medical examinations and statistics to show the marked increase in violence and early death when individuals indulge in narcotics. In addition, Unnatural Death argues for a more methodical approach in the conducting and reporting of autopsies, citing examples of practices that consistently verify evidence and help convict or exonerate accused killers.

In Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers Baden and coauthor Marion Roach present an overview of practices in forensic science. The book focuses on how forensic science is used to solve crimes by providing examples such as the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Carol DeAngelo, writing in School Library Journal, praised the accessibility of Dead Reckoning: "Baden and Roach simplify the details but retain the interesting aspects and serve up exciting and illuminating cases." In addition, Karen Evans, writing in Library Journal, called the book "an in-depth, engrossing look, even for the squeamish, at how medical examiners work."

Baden is also the coauthor of the novel Remains Silent, which he wrote with his wife, Linda Kenney, an investigative television journalist. The two main characters in the story, like the authors, are a medical examiner and a crusading reporter. Brought together by their careers when dead bodies are found near an abandoned psychiatric institution, the characters become romantically involved as they begin to piece the clues of the case together. A Publishers Weekly reviewer faulted the authors for "pedestrian writing," but Leslie Maden, writing in Library Journal, called Remains Silent "a brisk debut novel" populated by "unforgettable characters." BookReporter.com critic Stuart Shiffman concurred, describing the novel as "a fast-paced, enjoyable mystery that takes full advantage of the professional careers and experiences of its authors."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Scientist, January-February, 2003, James E. Starrs, "Crime Scene Scene," review of Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers, p. 84.

Atlantic Monthly, July, 1989, Phoebe-Lou Adams, review of Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner, p. 94.

Booklist, September 1, 2001, Gilber Taylor, review of Dead Reckoning, p. 20.

Library Journal, August, 2001, Karen Evans, review of Dead Reckoning, p 134; August, 2005, Leslie Maden, review of Remains Silent, p. 64.

Publishers Weekly, July 23, 2001, review of Dead Reckoning, p. 59; June 20, 2005, review of Remains Silent, p. 57.

School Library Journal, December, 2001, Carol DeAngelo, review of Dead Reckoning, p. 175.

Student British Medical Journal, April, 2002, review of Dead Reckoning, p. 127.