Cohen, Octavus Roy
Typescript, circa 1927
Biography:
Octavus
Roy Cohen was born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1891. He
graduated from Clemson College in 1911,from Birmingham-Southern College in 1927,
and practiced law in South Carolina for two years. Cohen worked at various times
for the
newspapers Birmingham Ledger, Charleston News and Courier, Bayonne Times (New
Jersey), and the Newark Morning Star. He authored more than 50 novels,
detective
mysteries, and books of short stories, more than 20 motion picture screenplays,
and at
least one stage drama (Come Seven, 1920). He contributed short stories to
The Saturday
Evening Post, Colliers, and other magazines. Cohen is best known for his
detective
fiction and for dozens of comic stories about African Americans. These stories,
set in
Birmingham, Alabama, featured uncouth characters and exaggerated black dialect. Cohen lived
variously in South Carolina, Alabama, New York, and California. He
died in Los Angeles in 1959.
Sources:
Steinbrunner, Chris and Otto Penzler, ed., Encyclopedia of Mystery and
Fiction. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976.
Who's
Who in America. Chicago: A. N. Marquis Company, 1944.
Scope and Content:
This
collection contains one autographed typescript of the short story "Hearts
and
Glowers," published in October 8, 1927 edition of The Saturday Evening
Post.
Guide to Collection:
Not
available.
Subject Areas:
African Americans in literature.
Authors --
Alabama -- Birmingham.
Birmingham
(Ala.) -- Authors.
Cohen, Octavus Roy, 1891-1959.
Collection Number: 1755
Size: 1/12 linear foot
Restrictions: Standard preservation and copyright restrictions.
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