Frederick J. Pohl
{{short description|American dramatist}}
{{About|1=the writer of controversial theories on American exploration|2=the science fiction author|3=Frederik Pohl}}
Frederick Julius Pohl (August 18, 1889 – February 21, 1991) was a prolific playwright, literary critic, editor and book author. He is best known for his books espousing speculative and controversial historical theories of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact by Europeans, including the Vikings and others.Pohl, F. J., The Lost Discovery. Uncovering the Track of the Vikings in America (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1952).Pohl, The Vikings on Cape Cod: Evidence from an Archaeological Discovery (Pictou, NS: Pictou Advocate Press, 1957).Pohl, Atlantic Crossings Before Columbus (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1961).Pohl, The Viking Explorers (New York: Crown, 1966).Pohl, The Viking Settlements of North America (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972).Pohl, Prince Henry Sinclair: His Expedition To The New World In 1398 (London: Davis-Poynter, 1974; New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1974)
Biography
Pohl was the husband of playwright/author Josephine McIlvain Pollitt (October 15, 1890 - August 1978; married Frederick in May 1926)Amherst Graduates' Quarterly, Vol 16, Amherst College, 1926. and later Loretta M. Baker (née Champagne, 1906 - April 27, 2002; married Frederick in 1980). He graduated from Amherst College in 1911 and from Columbia University in 1914 with a Master of Arts.
= Pohl's claims for Norse voyages to America =
In a review of Pohl's The Viking Settlements of North America Einar Haugen points out that Pohl's interpretation of the Vinland Map, now proven to be a hoax, "puts the Vikings in Cuba and the Gulf of Mexico. Haugen says that "On every page the author asserts that some notion has been "proved" beyond doubt or confirmed by "unquestionable evidence" when in fact the proof is achieved bt neglecting counterevidence or by sheer fiat."{{cite journal |last1=Haugen |first1=Einar |title=The Norse Voyages to America: A Review |journal=The Wisconsin Magazine of History |date=1972 |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=162–164 |jstor=4634777 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4634777 |access-date=7 May 2023 |issn=0043-6534}}
Other works
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=gaosBgAAQBAJ Amerigo Vespucci: Pilot Major] (New York: Octagon Books, 1966).
- Like to the Lark: The Early Years of Shakespeare (New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1972).
- William Shakespeare: A Biography (Rochester, NY: Dupont Books, 1983).
- The New Columbus (Rochester, NY: Dupont Books, 1986).
References
External links
- [https://archivesspace.amherst.edu/repositories/2/resources/381 Frederick J. Pohl (AC 1911) Papers] at the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
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Category:American book editors
Category:Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact
Category:American literary critics
Category:20th-century American historians
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:Amherst College alumni
Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights
Category:American men centenarians
Category:American male non-fiction writers
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