Kohen, Arnold

PERSONAL:

Born in New York, NY.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Washington, DC. Office—c/o Author Mail, St. Martin's Press, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—ASKOHEN@aol.com

CAREER:

Formerly investigative news reporter for National Broadcasting Company (NBC), New York, NY. Guest speaker; advisor to church and humanitarian organizations.

WRITINGS:

(With John Taylor) An Act of Genocide: Indonesia's Invasion of East Timor, Tapol (London, England), 1979.

From the Place of the Dead: A Biography of Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, Winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace, 1996, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1997.

From the Place of the Dead: The Epic Struggles of Bishop Belo of East Timor, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

Contributor to periodicals, including New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, and Los Angeles Times.

SIDELIGHTS:

Arnold Kohen has reported on political turmoil in East Timor since 1975, when a civil war in that territory provoked an invasion and occupation by Indonesian forces. At that time, Kohen forged relationships with scholars at several universities in Indonesia and East Timor. One of his intimates was the Roman Catholic bishop, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo. Bishop Belo's outspoken opposition to the atrocities committed by Indonesia against East Timor won him the Nobel Peace Prize. Kohen told Belo's story in From the Place of the Dead: The Epic Struggles of Bishop Belo of East Timor, and his biography has "a familiar, often touching, tone that makes it distinctive," noted Drew Christiansen in America. Kohen's special knowledge of his subject allows the reader to "know the complete man and feel the griefs and strains he bore in pastoring his people on the path to independence." In addition to offering insight into Bishop Belo himself, the book also illuminates the situation in East Timor, according to Tom Gallagher, who stated in Progressive: "This biography is as good a history of East Timor's tortuous last twenty-five years as you will find."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

America, December 18, 1999, Drew Christiansen, review of From the Place of the Dead: The Epic Struggles of Bishop Belo of East Timor, p. 22.

Booklist, May 15, 1999, review of From the Place of the Dead, p. 1646.

Economist, August 28, 1999, review of From the Place of the Dead, p. 66.

Kirkus Reviews, May 1, 1999, review of From the Place of the Dead, p. 697.

Library Journal, May 15, 1999, review of From the Place of the Dead, p. 100.

National Catholic Reporter, September 10, 1999, Dennis Coday, review of From the Place of the Dead, p. 16.

New York Times Book Review, December 19, 1999, Rachel E. Ingber, review of From the Place of the Dead, p. 23.

Progressive, July, 2000, Tom Gallagher, review of From the Place of the Dead, p. 44.

Publishers Weekly, May 10, 1999, review of From the Place of the Dead, p. 48.

Soujourners, January, 2000, John Chamberlin, review of From the Place of the Dead, p. 62.

Washington Post, July 25, 1999, Colman McCarthy, review of From the Place of the Dead.