Sarah Blacher Cohen

Sarah Blacher Cohen (June 11, 1936 in Appleton, Wisconsin, – November 10, 2008 in Albany, New York) was a writer, scholar, and playwright, and a professor at SUNY Albany for 30 years. Her area of specialty was Jewish American fiction. Her published books include Comic Relief: Humor in Contemporary American Literature,^[1] Saul Bellow's Enigmatic Laughter (1974),^[2] and Cynthia Ozick's Comic Art: From Levity to Liturgy.^[3][4] She edited From Hester Street to Hollywood: The Jewish-American Stage and Screen (Jewish Literature and Culture Series), Making a Scene: The Contemporary Drama of Jewish-American Women,^[5] and Jewish Wry: Essays on Jewish Humor. Her plays include The Ladies Locker Room,^[6] a biopic on Molly Picon, Soul Sisters, and a musical review called Sophie, Totie & Belle. She worked with Joanne Koch on a number of other plays. She collaborated with Isaac Bashevis Singer on the off-Broadway play Schlemiel the First. Cohen also gave talks and delivered papers, including "The Unkosher Comediennes: From Sophie Tucker to Joan Rivers."^[7] She was married to Gary Cohen. She died of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease on November 10, 2008 age 72.

References

External links

• Plays by Joanne Koch & Sarah Blacker
• New York Times review of Sophie, Totie and Belle
• New York Times review of Schlemiel The First
• Ezra Cappell (University of Texas, El Paso) "Sarah Blacher Cohen's Comic Drama of Disability" Jewish Women's Writing of the 1990s and Beyond - Abstract
• Comments from Cohen from a Philadelphia Inquirer article "Is 'Borat' Funny or a Hate Film?" (November 14, 2006)
• Bookfinder.com listing of Sarah Blacher Cohen
• Times Union obituary notice for Sarah Blacher Cohen