Don Cohan
Encyclopedia
Donald Smith "Don" Cohan (born 24 February 1930) is one of the leading yachtsmen in the U.S. He was the first Jew
to compete at the highest levels of world yachting competitions and at the time of his active career, the only Jew to win an Olympic
medal in yachting.
He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics, at the same time becoming the oldest competitor to win a bronze in sailing, at the age of 42. Years later, he twice defeated Hodgkins disease. He came back to win a U.S. sailing championship at the age of 72.
(cum laude; 1951). There, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi
.
He then attended Harvard Law School
. He practiced as an attorney, before going into business in real estate. He became President of Donesco Company, a real estate development
firm.
Cohan began sailing in 1967 at age 37. He was on the U.S. team at the World Championships in 1969, 1970, and 1971. Cohan then won the 1972 Olympic trials, becoming the first Jew to be a member of the U.S. Olympic Team in sailing.
In the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics
, he was set to compete when the Munich Massacre
resulted in the killing by terrorists of 11 Israeli athletes. All Jewish athletes were warned to leave, and two Israelis slated to compete in sailing were instructed to return home immediately. They handed Cohan their satin, blue and white triangular flag, emblazoned with "Sports Federation of Israel. XXth Olympiad Munich 1972," and said: "You're representing us now. Go win a medal for us."
Competing at the age of 42, he came from far back on the final day and earned a bronze medal as helmsman
in the mixed three-person 29 feet (8.8 m) Dragon class
, in a keelboat
named Caprice. He became the oldest person ever to place in Olympic sailing. He earned the medal within just five years from when he began sailing, and was the first Jew to win an Olympic medal in sailing.
Cohan wrote: "The last act of [expletives deleted] [U.S. Olympic Committee head and International Olympic Committee president] Avery Brundage
was to hang an Olympic medal around my neck." Brundage had been a Nazi sympathizer. He was notorious, among other things, for having pressured to have the only two Jews on the U.S. track team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
, sprinters Marty Glickman
and Sam Stoller
, removed at the very last moment on the morning of their 400-meter relay race, so as not to embarrass Hitler and the Nazis with a Jewish victory. Brundage later publicly praised the Nazi regime at a Madison Square
rally.
Cohan has also been U.S. champion, European champion, German champion, and Australian champion.
In 1984, he put his legal skills to good use. He charged Robbie Haines
, one of the competitors in the Olympic yachting Soling
trials, with having left too early (or "barged") at the start of the race, in Long Beach, California
. Ed Baird, a fellow competitor, said that Cohan "destroyed Haines in the protest room", but that "We're all still pretty close". Haines was disqualified for the race. In the end, however, Haines qualified for the 1984 Olympics, where he won a gold medal.
He said to himself, "Don, you may be very good in your line of business, but you know nothing about this one", and assembled a team around himself that he could rely on in his fight against the cancer. Cohan looked for excellent doctors who would allow him to undergo therapy usually considered too grueling for someone his age. He interviewed doctors, engaged a psychiatrist to help him deal with grief and fear, and told his wife she would be his deputy in the struggle. He went through aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy, suffered through fatigue, nausea, night sweats, swelling, and pain, and made it through the cancer successfully.
Then, though only one percent of patients get Hodgkins disease a second time—he found himself in that category. Again, he was not expected to survive. Again, he underwent aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy. And again, he defeated the cancer.
In 2002, at the age of 72, he won the U.S. Soling Championship. He also finished 5th in the world championship.
Taking a step back to ruminate on sailing competitively at his age, Cohan remarked: "I'm aware that I'm on the downwind side of the hill, and the reawakened goal of being a competitive sailor has caused me to stir up banked fires and rejuvenate neglected physical abilities."
He was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 2010, he was still sailing competitively.
, as a member of the Directors Leadership Council of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, and as a member of the Board of Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1986 he made a gift of a dormitory to Amherst College; it was named the Cohan Dormitory in his honor in 1989.
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
to compete at the highest levels of world yachting competitions and at the time of his active career, the only Jew to win an Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
medal in yachting.
He won a bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics, at the same time becoming the oldest competitor to win a bronze in sailing, at the age of 42. Years later, he twice defeated Hodgkins disease. He came back to win a U.S. sailing championship at the age of 72.
Biography
Cohan graduated from Amherst CollegeAmherst College
Amherst College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Amherst is an exclusively undergraduate four-year institution and enrolled 1,744 students in the fall of 2009...
(cum laude; 1951). There, he was a member of Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi
Beta Theta Pi , often just called Beta, is a social collegiate fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, USA, where it is part of the Miami Triad which includes Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Chi. It has over 138 active chapters and colonies in the United States and Canada...
.
He then attended Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
. He practiced as an attorney, before going into business in real estate. He became President of Donesco Company, a real estate development
Real estate development
Real estate development, or Property Development, is a multifaceted business, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of improved land or parcels to others...
firm.
Sailing
In the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
, he was set to compete when the Munich Massacre
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
resulted in the killing by terrorists of 11 Israeli athletes. All Jewish athletes were warned to leave, and two Israelis slated to compete in sailing were instructed to return home immediately. They handed Cohan their satin, blue and white triangular flag, emblazoned with "Sports Federation of Israel. XXth Olympiad Munich 1972," and said: "You're representing us now. Go win a medal for us."
Competing at the age of 42, he came from far back on the final day and earned a bronze medal as helmsman
Helmsman
A helmsman is a person who steers a ship, sailboat, submarine, or other type of maritime vessel. On small vessels, particularly privately-owned noncommercial vessels, the functions of skipper and helmsman may be combined in one person. On larger vessels, there is a separate officer of the watch,...
in the mixed three-person 29 feet (8.8 m) Dragon class
Dragon (keelboat)
thumbThe International Dragon is a one-design keelboat.The Dragon was designed by Norwegian Johan Anker in 1929. In 1948 the Dragon became an Olympic Class, a status it retained until the Munich Olympics in 1972...
, in a keelboat
Keelboat
Keelboat has two distinct meanings related to two different types of boats: one a riverine cargo-capable working boat, and the other a classification for small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yachts.-Historical keel-boats:...
named Caprice. He became the oldest person ever to place in Olympic sailing. He earned the medal within just five years from when he began sailing, and was the first Jew to win an Olympic medal in sailing.
Cohan wrote: "The last act of [expletives deleted] [U.S. Olympic Committee head and International Olympic Committee president] Avery Brundage
Avery Brundage
Avery Brundage was an American amateur athlete, sports official, art collector, and philanthropist. Brundage competed in the 1912 Olympics and was the US national all-around athlete in 1914, 1916 and 1918...
was to hang an Olympic medal around my neck." Brundage had been a Nazi sympathizer. He was notorious, among other things, for having pressured to have the only two Jews on the U.S. track team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
, sprinters Marty Glickman
Marty Glickman
Martin "Marty" Glickman was a Jewish American track and field athlete and sports announcer, born in The Bronx, New York. His parents, Harry and Molly Glickmann, immigrated to the United States from Jassy, Romania....
and Sam Stoller
Sam Stoller
Sam Stoller was an American sprinter and long jumper who tied the world record in the 60-yard dash in 1936. He is best known for his exclusion from the American 4 × 100 relay team at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, triggering widespread speculation that he and Marty Glickman,...
, removed at the very last moment on the morning of their 400-meter relay race, so as not to embarrass Hitler and the Nazis with a Jewish victory. Brundage later publicly praised the Nazi regime at a Madison Square
Madison Square
Madison Square is formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for James Madison, fourth President of the United States and the principal author of the United States Constitution.The focus of the square is...
rally.
Cohan has also been U.S. champion, European champion, German champion, and Australian champion.
In 1984, he put his legal skills to good use. He charged Robbie Haines
Robbie Haines
Robbie Haines is an American sailor and Olympic champion. He has won seven world championships in 4 different class of boats. He was associate producer and sailing team manager for the Walt Disney film "Morning Light"...
, one of the competitors in the Olympic yachting Soling
Soling
A Soling is a class of open keelboat designed by Jan Linge of Norway in 1965. In 1968, it was chosen from among many other boats to be the men's triple-handed boat for the 1972 Olympics...
trials, with having left too early (or "barged") at the start of the race, in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
. Ed Baird, a fellow competitor, said that Cohan "destroyed Haines in the protest room", but that "We're all still pretty close". Haines was disqualified for the race. In the end, however, Haines qualified for the 1984 Olympics, where he won a gold medal.
Hodgkin's disease
Nineteen years after winning his Olympic medal, in 1991, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease of the lymph glands and nodes, and was found to have the most severe type (4B). He was not expected to survive.He said to himself, "Don, you may be very good in your line of business, but you know nothing about this one", and assembled a team around himself that he could rely on in his fight against the cancer. Cohan looked for excellent doctors who would allow him to undergo therapy usually considered too grueling for someone his age. He interviewed doctors, engaged a psychiatrist to help him deal with grief and fear, and told his wife she would be his deputy in the struggle. He went through aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy, suffered through fatigue, nausea, night sweats, swelling, and pain, and made it through the cancer successfully.
Then, though only one percent of patients get Hodgkins disease a second time—he found himself in that category. Again, he was not expected to survive. Again, he underwent aggressive chemotherapy and radiation therapy. And again, he defeated the cancer.
Sailing, post-Hodgkins
Taking a step back to ruminate on sailing competitively at his age, Cohan remarked: "I'm aware that I'm on the downwind side of the hill, and the reawakened goal of being a competitive sailor has caused me to stir up banked fires and rejuvenate neglected physical abilities."
He was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
In 2010, he was still sailing competitively.
Philanthropy
Cohan has served as President of Jewish Employment and Vocational Service (JEVS) Human ServicesJewish Employment and Vocational Service
JEVS Human Services is a not-for-profit, nonsectarian social service agency based in Philadelphia in the United States. Its aim is to enhance clients' employability and self-sufficiency through a broad range of education, training, health and rehabilitation programs...
, as a member of the Directors Leadership Council of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, and as a member of the Board of Directors of The Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1986 he made a gift of a dormitory to Amherst College; it was named the Cohan Dormitory in his honor in 1989.
Books
- Importing practices & procedures: A reference manual (1964; Pennsylvania Bar Association, Committee on Continuing Legal Education)
- Pennsylvania Trusts (1964)
Articles
- "Pennsylvania Wait-and-See Perpetuity Doctrine – New Kernels from Old Nutshells", 28 Temple Law Quarterly 321 (Winter 1955)
- "Manufacturing Federal Diversity Jurisdiction by the Appointment of Representatives: Its Legality and Propriety", with Mercer Tate, 1 Villanova Law Review 201 (1956)
- "Legal, Tax, and Accounting Aspects of Fiduciary Appointment of Stock Proceeds: The Non-Statutory Pennsylvania Rules", with Stephen Dean, 106 University of Pennsylvania Law ReviewUniversity of Pennsylvania Law ReviewThe University of Pennsylvania Law Review is a law review focusing on legal issues, published by an organization of second and third year J.D. students at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. It is the oldest law journal in the United States, having been published continuously since 1852...
2 (December 1957) - "Considering Apportionment Consequences of Corporate Action", 21–22 The Shingle 57 (1958)
- "Law and Practicalities for Yachtsmen", 32 Temple Law Quarterly 241 (1958–59)
- "Pennsylvania Tentative Trusts", 110 University of Pennsylvania Law ReviewUniversity of Pennsylvania Law ReviewThe University of Pennsylvania Law Review is a law review focusing on legal issues, published by an organization of second and third year J.D. students at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. It is the oldest law journal in the United States, having been published continuously since 1852...
972 (1962) - "Accounting Considerations of Apportionment by Trustees of Receipts from Stock", 36 Temple Law Quarterly 121 (Winter 1963)
- "Legal and Practical Implications of Purchasing a Pleasure Boat – The Role of the Attorney", 37 Temple Law Quarterly 401 (1963)
See also
- List of select Jews in sailing
- List of Olympic medalists in Dragon class sailing
- List of select cases of Hodgkin's Disease