POHLEN, Jerome 1964(?)-

PERSONAL: Born c. 1964. Education: Earned B.S. and M.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—Chicago, IL. Offıce—Chicago Review Press, 814 North Franklin St., Chicago, IL 60610. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Editor and writer. Chicago Review Press, Chicago, IL, senior editor; National Public Radio (WBEZ-FM), Chicago, writer for Eight Forty-eight; Cool Spots (travel magazine), editor and publisher. Peace Corps volunteer in Benin, West Africa, 1986-88; former classroom teacher.

WRITINGS:

"ODDBALL" SERIES

Oddball Illinois: A Guide to Some Really StrangePlaces, Chicago Review Press (Chicago, IL), 2000.

Oddball Wisconsin: A Guide to Some Really StrangePlaces, Chicago Review Press (Chicago, IL), 2001.

Oddball Indiana: A Guide to Some Really StrangePlaces, Chicago Review Press (Chicago, IL), 2002.

Oddball Minnesota: A Guide to Some Really StrangePlaces, Chicago Review Press (Chicago, IL), 2003.

Oddball Colorado: A Guide to Some Really StrangePlaces, Chicago Review Press (Chicago, IL), 2003.

Oddball Florida: A Guide to Some Really StrangePlaces, Chicago Review Press (Chicago, IL), 2004.

Also author of educational books and science kits. Contributor to Chicago Reader and Crime Wave.

SIDELIGHTS: Jerome Pohlen, an editor for the Chicago Review Press and a contributing writer to the Chicago affiliate of National Public Radio, is the author of the "Oddball" series of travel books. In these works Pohlen offers a peek at various regions' out-of-the-ordinary tourist destinations, among them a sandpaper museum in Minnesota, the world's largest talking cow in Wisconsin, and an alligator farm in Colorado.

The "Oddball" titles evolved from Pohlen's self-published travel magazine Cool Spots. Discussing how he developed his interest in the unusual, the author/editor told interviewer John Coyne of the Peace Corps Writers Web site: "I think I've never been a person who traveled to relax. Combine that with a lifelong attraction to humorous and bizarre history, architecture, and individuals, and there you have it—the 'Oddball' books." Reviewing Oddball Wisconsin: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places in Library Journal, John McCormick stated that the Pohlen's "well-written description of each curiosity is both informative and humorous."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American History, October, 2001, review of OddballWisconsin: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places, p. 11.

Library Journal, May 15, 2001, John McCormick, review of Oddball Wisconsin, p. 151; April 1, 2003, Joseph L. Carlson, review of Oddball Minnesota: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places, p. 118.

Publishers Weekly, April 23, 2001, "From Here to There," p. 67.

Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN), March 2, 2003, Chuck Haga, "Guidebook Author Hits Oddity Bonanza in Minnesota."

U.S. News & World Report, May 5, 2003, review of Oddball Minnesota, p. 68.

ONLINE

Chicago Public Radio Web site,http://www.chicagopublicradio.com/ (April 20, 2004), "Eight Forty-eight: Cool Spots."
Chicago Review Press,http://www.chicagoreview press.com/CRP/ (April 20, 2004).

Independent Publishers Group Web site,http://www.ipgbook.com/ (April 20, 2004).

Peace Corps Writers Web site,http://www.peacecorpswriters.org/ (April 20, 2004), John Coyne, "Talking with Jerome Pohlen."*