Dr. Norman Fruman (1923-2012) is a noted literary scholar best known for his 1971 book Coleridge, The Damaged Archangel (1971). He was born in the Bronx, New York and attended school in New York City, earning his Master’s Degree from Columbia University in 1948 and his Ph.D. from New York University in 1960. While still attending the City University of New York for his undergraduate degree, Fruman was sent to fight in World War II. He rose to the rank of platoon leader in the 42nd Infantry Rainbow Division and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a prisoner of war in a Bavarian prison camp until his release in 1945. Fruman wrote for The American Comics Group after earning his M.A. and also won the television quiz show “The $64,000 Challenge” in 1957. After earning his doctorate in 1960, Fruman taught English at California State University, Los Angeles from 1959 to 1978 and later the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities from 1978 to 1994. Dr. Fruman was a public critic of political correctness in the university, especially in regards to his own field of study. He was a founding member of the Association of Literary Scholars, Critics, and Writers as well as a board member of the National Association of Scholars. Fruman died in 2012 from cancer, leaving behind three children and Doris, his wife for 53 years.

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