Charles R. Pellegrino
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Charles R. Pellegrino (born 1953) is an American writer, the author of several books related to science and archaeology, including ''Return to Sodom and Gomorrah'', ''Ghosts of the Titanic'', ''Unearthing Atlantis'', and ''Ghosts of Vesuvius.'' Pellegrino falsely claimed to have earned a PhD, and errors in his book ''The Last Train from Hiroshima'' (2010) prompted its publisher to withdraw it within a few months of publication.


Early life

During the mid-1970s, Pellegrino earned bachelor's and master's degrees at Long Island University.


Controversies


Ghosts of the Titantic

In a scathing review of ''Ghosts of the Titantic'' (2000) in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', Michael Parfit wrote: "If Charles Pellegrino weren't so shamelessly self-promoting, it might be O.K. to let this book drift into oblivion past the icebergs that it ought to hit. But he quotes himself in epigraphs, invents friendships with famous people and claims scientific authority for a work that flouts most principles of scientific scholarship. He shouldn't get away with it." Parfit's final paragraph begins: "Pellegrino has an agile mind, which has carried him through books on Atlantis, Sodom and Gomorrah and the lunar module. What's sad about all this is that if he hadn't claimed authority that isn't his, had checked his facts more carefully and had more honestly labeled his reconstructions and speculations as imaginative, the book might have had promise."


Last Train from Hiroshima

In January 2010, Henry Holt published Pellegrino's ''Last Train from Hiroshima'', a look at the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima from the vantage of survivors. ''The New York Times'' initially praised the book as "sober and authoritative" and as a "firm and compelling synthesis of earlier memoirs and archival material". Nevertheless, a month later the ''New York Times'' questioned claims made in Pellegrino's book: Veterans of the
509th Operations Group The 509th Operations Group (509 OG) is the flying component of the United States Air Force 509th Bomb Wing (509 BW), assigned to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. It is equipped with all 20 of the USAF's B-2 Spirit stealth bombers, flown by it ...
, the Air Force unit which dropped the atomic bombs, issued a detailed list of substantive problems with many of the book's claims about the bomb and the Air Force personnel involved. ''The New York Times'' added, "Facing a national outcry and the Corliss family’s evidence, the author, Charles Pellegrino, now concedes that he was probably duped. . . . said he would rewrite sections of the book for paperback and foreign editions." Despite Pellegrino's claim in ''The New York Times'' that he had been "duped" by Fuoco, further investigation revealed that Pellegrino had repeatedly mentioned one of the book's most disputed claims (a supposedly fatal accident at
Tinian Island Tinian ( or ; old Japanese name: 天仁安島, ''Tenian-shima'') is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of th ...
on 4 August 1945) ''before'' Mr. Fuoco had allegedly confided it for him. Doubts also arose about the existence of two westerners allegedly present in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing. On 1 March 2010, Henry Holt announced it had halted publication of ''Last Train from Hiroshima''. Pellegrino subsequently revised the text to remove some of the disputed content. The book was retitled "To Hell and Back" and released by a different publisher in 2015.


Doctoral degree

Pellegrino claimed to have received a PhD in 1982 from
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...
in New Zealand. Victoria University denied that claim. Pellegrino responded that the university had "stripped him of his Ph.D. because of a disagreement over evolutionary theory". The New Zealand Herald reported that Pellegrino claimed his credentials had been restored by 1997. The university investigated the matter, and in 2010, ''The New York Times'' reported:


Works

'' The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History'' (2007) (co-authored with
Simcha Jacobovici Simcha Jacobovici (; born April 4, 1953) is an Israeli-Canadian journalist and documentary film maker. Biography Simcha Jacobovici's parents were Holocaust survivors from Iași, Romania. He was born April 4, 1953, in Petah Tikva, Israel. In 19 ...
) was a companion book to the Discovery Channel documentary on the same subject created in part by film director James Cameron.


Bibliography


Non-fiction

* ''Time Gate: Hurtling Backward Through History'' (1983) * ''Darwin's Universe: Origins and Crises in the History of Life'' (with Jesse A. Stoff, 1983) * ''Chariots for Apollo: The Untold Story Behind the Race to the Moon'' (with Joshua Stoff, 1985) * ''Interstellar Travel and Communication'' (with James Powell and Isaac Asimov, et al., 1986) * ''Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: The Hidden Epidemic'' (with Jesse A. Stoff, 1988) * ''Her Name, Titanic: Untold Story of the Sinking and Finding of the Unsinkable Ship'' (1988) * ''Unearthing Atlantis: An Archaeological Odyssey'' (1991) * ''Return to Sodom and Gomorrah: Bible Stories from Archaeologists'' (1994) * ''Ghosts of the Titanic'' (2000) * ''Ghosts of Vesuvius: A New Look at the Last Days of Pompeii, How Towers Fall, and Other Strange Connections'' (2004) * '' The Jesus Family Tomb: The Discovery, the Investigation, and the Evidence That Could Change History'' (with
Simcha Jacobovici Simcha Jacobovici (; born April 4, 1953) is an Israeli-Canadian journalist and documentary film maker. Biography Simcha Jacobovici's parents were Holocaust survivors from Iași, Romania. He was born April 4, 1953, in Petah Tikva, Israel. In 19 ...
, 2007) * '' The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back'' ( Henry Holt, 2010) * "Farewell, Titanic: Her Final Legacy," (Foreword by Tom Dettweiler), John Wiley & Sons, N.J. (2012). * "The Californian Incident," Shoebox/Kindle, Canada (2013). * "StarTram: The New Race for Space." (with James Powell, George Maise) Shoebox/Kindle, Canada (2013).


Fiction

* ''The Fallen Sky'' (1982) * ''Flying to Valhalla'' (1993) * ''
The Killing Star ''The Killing Star'' is a hard science fiction novel by American writers Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski, published in April 1995. It chronicles a sudden alien invasion in a late 21st century technological utopia, while covering seve ...
'' (with
George Zebrowski George Zebrowski (born December 28, 1945) is an American science fiction writer and editor who has written and edited a number of books, and is a former editor of The Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lives with author Pamela ...
, 1995) * ''Dust'' (1998) * ''
Dyson Sphere A Dyson sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that completely encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its solar power output. The concept is a thought experiment that attempts to explain how a spacefaring civilization would meet ...
'' (with
George Zebrowski George Zebrowski (born December 28, 1945) is an American science fiction writer and editor who has written and edited a number of books, and is a former editor of The Bulletin of the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lives with author Pamela ...
, 1999)


Filmography

* ''Lost Civilizations: Aegean - Legacy of Atlantis'' - Time-Life /
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
(1995). :Re-released on October 1, 2002 as part of a 4-DVD set entitled ''Time Life's Lost Civilizations.'' * ''
Ghosts of the Abyss ''Ghosts of the Abyss'' is a 2003 American documentary film produced by Walden Media and released in most countries by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by James Cameron after his 1997 film ''Titanic''. During August and September 2001, Camer ...
''. With James Cameron (2003). * ''
Naked Science ''Naked Science'' is an American documentary television series that premiered in 2004 on the National Geographic Channel and ran through November 2011. The program featured various subjects related to science and technology. Some of the views e ...
:
Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...
'' - National Geographic Channel (2004). * ''
Aliens of the Deep ''Aliens of the Deep'' is a 2005 American documentary film directed in part by James Cameron alongside fellow cameraman and friend Steven Quale, and filmed in the IMAX 3D format. It was produced by Walden Media and Walt Disney Pictures. Came ...
''. With James Cameron (2005). * ''
The Naked Archaeologist ''The Naked Archaeologist'' is a television series on VisionTV in Canada and History International in the US, that was produced and hosted by the Emmy Award–winning journalist Simcha Jacobovici together with Avri Gilad. The show examines bibli ...
:
Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
'' -
History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
. Hosted by
Simcha Jacobovici Simcha Jacobovici (; born April 4, 1953) is an Israeli-Canadian journalist and documentary film maker. Biography Simcha Jacobovici's parents were Holocaust survivors from Iași, Romania. He was born April 4, 1953, in Petah Tikva, Israel. In 19 ...
(2006). * ''American Vesuvius'' -
History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
(2006). * ''Secrets of the Bible'' - National Geographic Channel (2006). * ''
The Exodus Decoded ''The Exodus Decoded'' is a 2006 documentary film by "investigative archaeologist" and filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici and producer/director James Cameron. It aired April 16 on The History Channel. The documentary proposes naturalistic origins for the ...
'' -
History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
. With
Simcha Jacobovici Simcha Jacobovici (; born April 4, 1953) is an Israeli-Canadian journalist and documentary film maker. Biography Simcha Jacobovici's parents were Holocaust survivors from Iași, Romania. He was born April 4, 1953, in Petah Tikva, Israel. In 19 ...
and James Cameron (2006). * ''
The Lost Tomb of Jesus ''The Lost Tomb of Jesus'' is a pseudoarchaeological docudrama co-produced and first broadcast on the Discovery Channel and Vision TV in Canada on March 4, 2007, covering the discovery of the Talpiot Tomb. It was directed by Canadian documentar ...
'' - Discovery Channel. With
Simcha Jacobovici Simcha Jacobovici (; born April 4, 1953) is an Israeli-Canadian journalist and documentary film maker. Biography Simcha Jacobovici's parents were Holocaust survivors from Iași, Romania. He was born April 4, 1953, in Petah Tikva, Israel. In 19 ...
(2007). * ''Three Ground Zeros, A Thousand Paper Cranes'' (2008) * ''A Jewish Home in Pompeii'' (History Channel, 2009) * ''The Last Train From Hiroshima'' (Japan TV, 2009) * Pellegrino and the Hiroshima Controversy in America (Japan TV, Hidetaka/Nakamura, 2010) * The Legacy of Tsutomu Yamaguchi (Japan TV, Hidetaka/Nakamura, 2011) * Twice Bombed, Twice Survived, Part 2 (Japan TV, Hidetaka/Nakamura, 2012)


References


External links


Official Website for Charles Pellegrino

To Hell and Back: The Last Train From Hiroshima


{{DEFAULTSORT:Pellegrino, Charles R. 1953 births Living people Writers from New York City Victoria University of Wellington alumni Pseudohistorians Atlantis proponents 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male novelists Charles Darwin biographers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) American male non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers