Dalton, Coco

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Dalton, Coco

(Coco Pekelis Dalton, Coco Pekelis)

PERSONAL: Daughter of Carla Pekelis (a writer); married David Dalton (a writer); children: Toby.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, St. Martin's Press, 175 5th Ave., New York, NY 10010.

CAREER: Writer.

WRITINGS:

(As Coco Pekelis) Everything I Know I Learned on Acid, Acid Test Productions (Petaluma, CA), 1996.

(With Peggy Lipton and husband, David Dalton) Breathing Out, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Coco Dalton is the author of Everything I Know I Learned on Acid (which was published under her maiden name, Coco Pekelis), and is coauthor, with husband David Dalton and actor Peggy Lipton, of Lipton's autobiography Breathing Out. Lipton first gained fame as one of the trio of hip detectives on the 1960s television series The Mod Squad. Her autobiography reveals her love affairs with the likes of Paul McCartney of Beatles fame and Elvis Presley, both rock-and-roll legends. She also recounts her eventual marriage to musician and music producer Quincy Jones that led her to retire from acting and concentrate on her family until the marriage broke up a decade or so later. Lipton and her coauthors also discuss the actor's difficult youth, her battle with depression, and her eventual spiritual awakening under the tutelage of a guru. Writing in the Detroit Free Press, John Smyntek commented that "you don't often see 'literary style' and 'celebrity bio' in the same sentence, but Lipton's coauthors … have done a great job of bite-sizing and not super-sizing her life." Smyntek went on to note that the Daltons "mostly keep the revelations chatty," and he gave Lipton "credit for linking up with the right storytellers." A contributor to the Books in Review Web site called the book an "easy and very interesting read," while a Kirkus Reviews contributor wrote: "People who love star autobiographies will no doubt find this satisfying."