2 January 2007
"Just a note about a pastel work I have of Mr. Coggins. Since he did not have a catalog of his work - its probably unknown. I lived in the Reading area and worked for the parent company of Salient Communications, Inc. (They were the Company that once owned Gilbert Assoc., Inc.) This painting hung in one of the offices of the Company. When Salient 3 Communications liquidated and sold off their assets, I purchased this pastel. The work is quite different from Mr. Coggins oils; and I was never quite sure he painted it, until I recently read he also worked in pastels.It I had to title the painting I would call it Misty Harbor."
3 January 2007
"My daughter told me I was wrong about the painting, its a watercolor not a pastel. She also said that its very much Mr. Coggins style of painting."
9 December 2006
Re: Marine Painter's Guide
"I wanted to send Mr. Coggins an email telling him how much I am enjoying his book. Too bad he is passed away. He must have had one hummer of a personality! :)
He gets right into dispersing information right away in his book and his humor is great. It sure never occured to me to actually build a model to draw from. I think that will be great fun, I love paper. And what a good idea to put it in sand so it looks like it is on/in the water.
I have done several large ink drawings of sailing ships and have drawn from art books. I like the linear and the interesting structure of the sailing boats. Of course, I like the challenge of the such an intricate subject.
I haven't browsed your website yet but I will. Mr. Coggins must have given much to the world of art during his lifetime it is good you are bringing attention to his work."
6 September 2006 "I'm involved in an educational film project about Operation Torch. My project, a non-profit venture, and without financial backing except my own resources, is a story inspired by an eight page letter written by my Dad in 1942, regarding to his experiences aboard an ill-fated APA Transport Ship, (the only APA to be torpedoed in the Eastern Task Force), during Operation Torch.
I was recently introduced to Jack Coggins book; "The Campaign for North Africa" published in 1980. Jack makes mention of an ill-fated landing craft journey in his book, and provides some very valuable information that collaborates with my Dad's letter regarding this journey, and the torpedo incident of the USS Thomas Stone."
8 August 2006 "I was good friends with Mary Hamman and Franklin Brill. We often used to
spend weekends with Jack and Alma in Bucks county and I remember them fondly. Wish that I had more to help you in a practical way, but just do know they are remembered."
(NOTE: See News for more about Mary Hamman.
7 July 2006 "I came across your site while researching a pen and ink drawing by Jack Coggins I recently acquired. I believe the drawing is a WW II era piece ... Thanks for the very informative and well done site. I appreciate your efforts."
22 June 2006 "I just found your site and I love it. I have one of Jack's prints - it is called Dory and Shed. He was a very accomplished man from my readings on him. Thank you so much. I truly enjoyed looking at your site and all of his accomplishments."
20 June 2006 "I have enjoyed looking at your very informative website regarding Jack Coggins. I became aware of him, due to his excellent illustration of HMS Jervis Bay & her convoy in the epic battle with Admiral Scheer (German pocket battleship.) I recently finally acquired a copy of this magazine from 25 November, 1940, from a seller in the USA.
There are many different pictures/illustrations of the Jervis Bay (my grandfather was killed aboard the ship), and Jack's is a particularly good one, I feel. I was particularly interested in seeing that he had contributed such a fine collection of work in his long eventful lifetime.
Keep up your hard work as regards your website & your collection."
16 May 2006 "Just a note to thank you for the wonderful website about Jack Coggins. (Regretfully, I only have Nets Overboard! In my library.) Your website is a great resource for our students when they do author and illustrator studies. Thank you again."
20 April 2006 "In my opinion Jack's work is among the most outstanding of all this genre, and I had no idea about his other work until I saw your web site. My interest in his work is also professional as well as personal as I've written articles for Illustration magazine about another illustrator whom I've had a long interest in (Enoch Bolles)."
15 April 2006 "I'm an illustrator living in Canada. I wanted to let you know what a wonderful thing you've done by creating this website as a tribute to a truly talented artist who otherwise might have been forgotten - so many others have faded away."
30 March 2006 "I've just discovered it. Sent the link to many of my illustrator/cartoonist friends. I'm an animation storyboard artist at Pixar and I've been trying to draw my own comic book for a few years now. I'm highly influenced by the Chesley Bonestell/Pulp sci fi/ EC comics style of depicting space in the 50s and 60s. I'm sure I've got some Jack Coggins in the books I have for inspiration. Nice to have an entire site to digest. Hard to believe the standards for magazine illustration were once so high. A real lost art."
7 March 2006 "Please accept my sympathies to your family on his passing. I'm sure there has been considerable comfort in the fact of the enourmous impact he had on so many other lives. Most of my awareness of his work was from the very first book I owned and, like so many others, the effect of those pictures on my imagination was incalculable."
28 Feb 2006 "I live on Chincoteague Island VA. I have one of Jacks oil paintings hanging in my bedroom. He and my father were very good friends in PA. I am so sorry to hear he died. Glad to hear Alma is still with us. I have good memories of them having dinner at our house. He and my father drove to Alaska in the 50's. My husband and I had just looked at the slides this past summer. The painting that I have was a trade that he and daddy made, Jack received a hand made Martin House, and the painting was of the Maine ocean shore. I inherited it when my parents passed away. Thank you for posting the site and the information. He was a great gentleman and true artist."
22 February 2006 "I was very happy to see you had launched a website dedicated to Jack. My grandparents on my father's side were very close friends with Jack & Alma and very close to my dad while he was growing up. Since my grandfather passed away in '93 (grandmother in '82) I hadn't seen the Coggins too often though during holidays or if I had a few days to see my father. My whole family has always been great admirers of both of their work and I was very proud to see that you had created the site. I so much appreciated the pictures of their studio. I ran around in there as a little kid and haven't been back in a couple years. It brought back so many memories of being at their house when I was a child."
6 February 2006 "Just wanted to drop a line and let you know how much i loved veiwing this great website. Working for Jack and Alma has been wonderful. I really got to know Jack in the past three years. I would loved to have known him in his ealier years. I could have learned so much more from him. All of his friends always spoke highly of him, telling stories of the get togethers and parties that they hosted. He was a well liked man. I have spread the word about this website to many friends of his. Thank you so much for the research and work you've done."
2 February 2006 "I'm so sorry to hear about Jack. Thank you for passing that information onto me. One of the last of the great illustrators, in my opinion."
1 February 2006 "Jack Coggins was an enormous influence on my life and career, inspiring a fascination with space travel that has not only lasted for more than 50 years so far, but is an integral part of what I do for a living...which is for the most part writing and illustrating books for young adults about space and science. There is, of course, no way I could repay Jack for his inspiration...other than to try to pass along that inspiration to another generation."