John Cooper (born 1958 in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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) is a Canadian author and corporate communications specialist. Currently a manager for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Cooper is also a part-time teacher and freelance business writer. Cooper has also worked as a speechwriter, communications planner, media relations officer, correspondence manager, and publications editor. Cooper has written articles for different publications, including

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, CMA Management, the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

, and is a former employee of the Liberal newspaper in Richmond Hill,

. Cooper teaches at

Centennial College Centennial College may refer to: * Centennial College (Canada), a public college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada * Centennial College (Hong Kong), a private college in Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong {{Disambiguation, schools ...

's Corporate Communications and Public Relations program. He currently lives in Whitby, Ontario, where he operates an independent writing and communications firm, Tymelco Communications, doing consulting work for a variety of clients.

Written work

Besides writing articles, Cooper has written several non-fiction books, a novel and one textbook. Stemming from his interest in African-Canadian history, Cooper has written two biographies, one history book for a younger audience, and co-wrote an autobiography. In 1998, he assisted Stanley G. Grizzle with his autobiography ''My Name's Not George: The Story of the

Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Founded in 1925, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids (commonly referred to as the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, BSCP) was the first labor organization led by African Americans to receive a charter in the American Federation o ...

in Canada''. Following this, he wrote two books based on the life of African-Canadian Olympian

Ray Lewis Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. (born May 15, 1975) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 17-year career as a linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football f ...

: ''Shadow Running'', aimed at adult audiences and chronicling Lewis' trials as a railway porter, and ''Rapid Ray: The Story of Ray Lewis'', which detailed Lewis' lifelong battles with discrimination and racism, and aimed at a younger preteen audience. In 2005, Cooper wrote ''Season of Rage: Hugh Burnett and the Struggle for Civil Rights''. The young readers' history book examined the reality of racial intolerance in southern Ontario, as well as the efforts and input of many civil rights activists. Cooper wrote a textbook on crisis communications, ''Crisis Communications in

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: A Practical Approach''. The book uses several real and hypothetical case studies to show college communications students how to handle crisis situations (i.e. with the media, public relations, etc.). His first novel for young adults is entitled ''The Greyhound''.

Recognition

Season of Rage: 2006 selection of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre; 2007 nominee, Red Maple Award, Ontario Library Association; 2008 nominee, Stellar Book Awards. Rapid Ray: The Story of Ray Lewis: 2004 selection of the Golden Oak Adult Literacy Book Club; 2004 Our Choice starred selection of the Canadian Children’s Book Centre.

Reading

*My Name's Not George, with Stanley G. Grizzle, Umbrella Press, 1998. *Shadow Running, Umbrella Press, 1999. *Rapid Ray: The Story of Ray Lewis, Tundra Books, 2002. *Season of Rage, Tundra Books, 2005. *Crisis Communications In Canada: A Practical Approach, Centennial College Press, 2007. *The Greyhound,

Dundurn Press Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Hum ...

, 2011. *Everything Runs Like a Movie,

, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, John 1958 births Canadian non-fiction writers Centennial College alumni Writers from Toronto Living people