Vernon Coleman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vernon Coleman (born 1946) is a former general practitioner,[1] and the author of over 100 books, including non-fiction works about human health, politics, cricket, and animal issues,[2] and a range of novels.[3] Son of an electrical engineer, he grew up an only child, in Walsall, West Midlands, England, where he attended Queen Mary's Grammar School. He is a committed vegetarian.[4]

Vernon Coleman's books have sold over two million copies in the UK, and have been translated into 24 languages. His books have been published in the UK by Arrow, Pan, Penguin, Corgi, Thames and Hudson, Sidgwick and Jackson, Macmillan and many other publishing houses. His books have been translated into 24 languages and English versions sell in America, Australia, Canada and South Africa as well as the UK. Several have appeared on official bestseller lists both in the UK and abroad. He now self-publishes his books in the UK and sells rights to foreign publishers, large print publishers, audio publishers and film companies.[1] One of his novels, Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War, has been turned into a movie with the same name.[5]

Coleman is an outspoken critic of medical malpractice, the power of pharmaceutical companies, vaccination, conventional cancer treatment, animal testing and the European Union.

Biography

As a child he was unsure what he wanted to do, but then, according to The Independent in 2008, he "met a friend of the family when I was about 12 who said, if you're a lawyer you spend your life making people unhappy, and if you're a doctor you spend your life trying to make people happy."[4]

Before going to medical school he worked for a year as a volunteer in Kirkby, Liverpool, getting children to paint old people's houses and doing their shopping. According to Coleman, "The unions threatened to strike, as they were taking away work, but... work that they weren't doing anyway...."[4]

Coleman qualified as a doctor in 1970 and has worked both in hospitals and as a GP. He is still registered and licensed to practice as a GP principal. He has founded and organised many campaigns concerning iatrogenesis, drug addictions and the abuse of animals and has given evidence to committees at the House of Commons and the House of Lords on vivisection. Dr Coleman's campaigns have often proved successful.

For example, after a 15 year campaign (which started in 1973), he eventually persuaded the British government to introduce stricter controls governing the prescribing of benzodiazepine tranquillisers. 'Dr Vernon Coleman's articles, to which I refer with approval, raised concern about these important matters,' said Edwina Currie, Parliamentary Secretary for health in the House of Commons in 1988.

Writing and media appearances

His first books included The Medicine Men (1975), and Paper Doctors (1976). Bodypower came in 1983, and has been reprinted a number of times. Alice's Diary (1989) and Alice's Adventures (1992) concern Alice (1983–1992) and her half sister Thomasina (1983–2000), real cats who shared their lives with Vernon Coleman. How to Stop Your Doctor Killing You came out in 1996, and then again in 2003.[4] After publishers refused to publish Alice's Diary and certain other of his books, he decided to begin self-publishing.[4]

He has worked as a columnist for numerous national newspapers including The Sun, The Daily Star, The Sunday Express and The Sunday People and has written columns for over 50 regional newspapers. His columns and articles have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. He has contributed articles to hundreds of other publications including The Sunday Times, Observer, Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Express, The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday, The Daily Mirror, The Sunday Mirror, Punch, Woman, Woman's Own, The Lady, The Spectator and the British Medical Journal. He was the founding editor of the British Clinical Journal.

He has presented numerous programmes on television and radio and was the original breakfast television doctor. He was television's first agony uncle (on The Afternoon Show). He has presented three TV series based on his bestselling book Bodypower.

Personal life

Vernon Coleman is married to Donna Antoinette Coleman (born 1972), whom he calls "the Welsh Princess".[4] She is co-author with him of How To Conquer Health Problems Between Ages 50 and 120 (2003), and Health Secrets Doctors Share With Their Families (2005).

Major publications

  • The Medicine Men (1975)
  • Paper Doctors (1976)
  • Stress Control (1978)
  • Tunnel (1980)
  • The Good Medicine Guide (1982)
  • Bodypower (1983)
  • Thomas Winsden's Cricketing Almanac (1983)
  • Bodysense (1984)
  • Life Without Tranquillisers (1985)
  • Mindpower (1986)
  • Know Yourself (1988)
  • Alice's Diary (1989)
  • Village Cricket Tour (1990)
  • Eat Green Lose Weight (1990)
  • Why Animal Experiments Must Stop (1991)
  • Alice's Adventures(1992)
  • Bilbury Chronicles (1992)
  • Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War (1993)
  • Betrayal of Trust (1994)
  • Food for Thought (1994, 2000)
  • The Man Who Inherited a Golf Course (1995)
  • How to Stop Your Doctor Killing You (1996, new edn 2003)
  • Paris in My Springtime (2002)
  • How To Conquer Health Problems Between Ages 50 and 120 (2003, with Donna Antoinette Coleman)
  • Health Secrets Doctors Share With Their Families (2005, with Donna Antoinette Coleman)
  • Too Many Clubs and Not Enough Balls (2005)
  • Animal Experiments Simple Truths (2006)
  • How to Protect and Preserve Your Freedom, Identity and Privacy (2006)
  • Gordon is a Moron: the Definitive and Objective Analysis of Gordon Brown's Decade as Chancellor of the Exchequer (2007)
  • Coleman's Laws (2007)
  • Oil Apocalypse (2007)
  • Mr Henry Mulligan (2007)
  • The OFPIS File (2008)
  • Cat Tales (2008)
  • What Happens Next? (2009)
  • Moneypower (2009)
  • Bloodless Revolution (2009)
  • 101 Things I Have Learned (2010)
  • 100 Greatest Englishmen and Englishwomen (2010)
  • 2020 (2010)
  • Anyone Who Tells You Vaccines Are Safe And Effective Is Lying. Here's The Proof. (2011)
  • Diary of a Disgruntled Man (2011)
  • Do Doctors And Nurses Kill More People Than Cancer? (2011)

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Biography", vernoncoleman.com.
  2. ↑ "Vernon Coleman". Tower Hill Stables. Retrieved 25 December 2013. 
  3. ↑ Bedell, Geraldine (7 April 1996). "DOCTOR ON THE MAKE". The Independent. Retrieved 25 December 2013. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 The doctor will see you now: Who does Vernon Coleman think he is?
  5. ↑ "Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War". IMDB. Retrieved 25 December 2013. 

External links

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