American historian
Richard N. Cote
(
koh-
TAY
; June 3, 1945 ? February 10, 2015) was an American author,
social historian
, and
lecturer
. His work included research in Wisconsin and four years researching for the
South Carolina Historical Society
in the late 1970s to early 1980s. From 1999 to 2002 he published three well-received biographies, of
Theodosia Burr Alston
,
Dolley Madison
, and Mary Motte Alston Pringle. Cote was born in Connecticut and attended
Butler University
. He served in the
United States Air Force
for six years after graduation.
Biography
[
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]
Youth and education
[
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]
Born June 3, 1945, in Waterbury, Connecticut, to Norman W. and Anne M. (Richall) Cote, he was educated at The Milford School and graduated in 1963 from
Amity Regional Senior High School
in
Woodbridge
. One of two children, Cote had an "adventure-filled" childhood. Cote's
Dublin
-born mother and his
Quebec
-born grandmother, Gertrude Beaudoin Cote, often read to him. He quickly became fascinated with The
Harvard Classics
and read the complete
Encyclopædia Britannica
in his teen years. His mother, a part-time journalist, let him use her typewriter, and by the age of twelve, he was typing most of his school papers.
Cote attended
Butler University
in
Indianapolis, Indiana
where he majored in
political science
and
journalism
and became passionate about
photography
,
Greek
and
Roman mythology
, and writing. In 1964 he was inducted into
Sigma Delta Chi
, the national journalism fraternity, and was awarded a scholarship for his work as the university's newspaper photographer.
After college, Cote served six years in the
United States Air Force
. He spent a year at
Mather Air Force Base
,
California
, and then volunteered to serve in the
Vietnam War
. At
Da Nang Air Base
he served both as a USAF combat news photographer and as a munitions specialist from 1966 to 1967. He spent his final four years in the military as a photographer at
Hahn Air Base
,
Germany
.
[1]
Personal life
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For enjoyment, he traveled worldwide and collected 19th century
engravings
and
paintings
by contemporary Southern artists.
[1]
He was active in the
right to die
movement and served as a spokesman for assisted-suicide activist
George Exoo
.
[2]
Death
[
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]
Cote died February 10, 2015, in
Charleston, South Carolina
, after falling down stairs at his home. He was 69.
[3]
Writing career
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]
Early career
[
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]
While living in
Wisconsin
in the 1970s, he became interested with the history of
Manitowoc County
, first settled by German and Polish immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century. His ability to read German
Fraktur
handwriting led to the transcription of numerous volumes of early
German Lutheran
church records and tombstones.
After moving to
South Carolina
in 1979, he was recruited by the
South Carolina Historical Society
. There he spent four years serving as an
archivist
,
librarian
, and
grant writer
. In 1984 he was recruited to establish a high-precision public records
microfilming
system for the
County of Charleston
. He also researched the lives of 18th- and 19th-century Southern planters, their homes, and their slaves.
[1]
In the 1990s he turned to more contemporary subjects, including
sexual harassment
and
abuse
,
motorcycle gangs
and
drug dealing
, entertainment personalities, the American
circus
industry,
religious cults
, and
deprogrammers
. He also authored or co-authored novels based on family relationships,
human cloning
,
politics
, and addiction to
psychics
.
Gaining recognition
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His three biographies,
Mary's World: Love, War, and Family Ties in Nineteenth-century Charleston
(1999);
Theodosia Burr Alston: Portrait of a Prodigy
(2002) and
Strength and Honor: The Life of Dolley Madison
(2004) brought him national recognition. In 2008, "Strength and Honor" was chosen to be translated into the Braille language for the blind by the Library of Congress.
Controversies
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]
In 1991, after being commissioned to write a documentary history of the South Carolina State Ports Authority, that agency insisted that all references to the port's early use for the
slave trade
be censored, and that local opposition to its expansion be deleted. Cote demanded that his name be removed from the book. "Agreeing to undertake a scholarly writing project is not the same as agreeing to be a literary whore," he said.
[1]
In 1995, Cote was hired by National Press Books through his agent,
Robert Eringer
, to work as a literary collaborator with
Edward Lee Howard
, a former
CIA
spy who defected to
Russia
after being accused of providing classified information to the Russians. After intensive research and ten days' interviews with Howard in
Moscow
, Cote returned and wrote Safe House, an authoritative account of Howard's claim to innocence. Unbeknownst to Cote at the time, Eringer was secretly working for the
FBI
and was using him to acquire information the agency could use against Howard.
[4]
Awards
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In 2004, he received the Bobby Gilmer Moss Award in History from the
Daughters of the American Revolution
for his outstanding contributions to South Carolina history. He has been chosen as a Featured Author by the South Carolina Book Festival; the Carl Sandberg Celebration of Books and Authors in
Hendersonville, North Carolina
; the Spoleto Festival of the Arts in
Charleston, South Carolina
; and the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum,
Washington
.
[5]
Bibliography
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Non-fiction
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]
Articles
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]
- "Fine Wine and Thoroughbreds: The Friendship of Thomas Jefferson and Col. William Alston," Journal of the American Wine Society, Winter, 1996, pp. 112?114.
- "Jewel of the Cotton Fields: Secessionville Manor" (privately printed, 1995).
- "Not Just Medium or Dry: New Zealand's Sophisticated Varietals Take On The World," Journal of the American Wine Society, Winter, 1992, pp. 127?129.
Fiction
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Collaborations
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]
- No Time For Tears: Transforming Tragedy into Triumph
by Dorris R. Wilcox with Richard N. Cote (2000).
ISBN
978-1-929175-07-9
.
- Patriot Dreams: The Murder of Col. Rich Higgins
, by Robin Higgins with Richard N. Cote (1999).
ISBN
978-0-940328-24-2
.
- Stopping The Train: The Landmark Victory Over Same-Sex Sexual Harassment in the Workplace,
by Edwin B. Martin Jr. with Richard N. Cote (1999).
ISBN
978-1-929175-08-6
.
- Safe House: The Compelling Memoir of the Only CIA Spy to Seek Asylum In Russia
By Edward Lee Howard / edited by Richard N. Cote (1995).
ISBN
978-1-882605-15-6
.
- Preserving The Legacy: Medway Plantation on Back River
by Richard N. Cote and research by Agnes L. Baldwin (1993).
References
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Cote, Richard N. Interviewed by Cammie Amacher, March 17, 2011.
- ^
"
'Angel of death' or victim of a witch-hunt?"
.
The Irish Times
. September 8, 2007
. Retrieved
2017-09-10
.
- ^
Parker, Adam (February 10, 2015).
"Cote, local author, publisher, dies at 69"
.
The Post and Courier
. Retrieved
2017-09-10
.
- ^
Eringer, Robert. Ruse: Undercover with FBI Counterintelligence. Washington D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc., 2008.
- ^
"Meet the Author: Richard N. Cote," accessed March 18, 2011, at
http://www.corinthianbooks.com
.