Michael Koran

Michael Koran was born on March 1, 1941 in Brooklyn NY and passed away

on March 2, 2024, the day after his 84 th Birthday. Up until his College years

he went by his father’s last name “Korn” until he discovered on his birth

certificate his last name was Koran and so was his brother Len’s. He found

out that his mother added an A at time of birth.

Michael obtained his Masters of Art in Social Sciences from the University

of Chicago in 1972. He was drawn to Boston as the “Intellectual Capital”

and to his delight, he discovered that Cambridge was also the “Amateur

Artistic Capital” which he benefited from. He was a teacher and taught for

over 4 decades, including teaching in the BU prison program, adult

education and Universities such as Lowell and Cambridge. He taught well

over 100 courses on literature, theater, psychology, poetry, mythology and

religion. Some examples of some of the creative courses he taught were

“Relationships are Difficult, Especially with Other People” and “Defeating

Self-Defeating Behaviors.” His generosity of intelligence, time, and joy has

been inspirational to many over the years. He led many on-going private

study groups after classes completed which met for months and

sometimes for years such as his Psychic Skills group, Nonviolent

Communication group and the Empowered Cowards group. Countless

people have shared their stories with Michael of the positive influence he

had on their lives with a theme of bringing them out of themselves and

learning to believe in themselves. One example is how one of his students

from prison, attributes that Michael was pivotal in his life. After his first

class with Michael, he then had the confidence to obtain his Bachelor’s

degree, publish several books and is now a teacher; passing the torch for

other people in prison.

Michael also is an author and published “Verse to Better” a collection of

365 daily poems and “Heel Soul,” a book on healing through dance which

also has an entry for each day of the year. Michael hosted a TV show for

over 20 years with Cambridge Community Television where he interviewed

people, explored God with God Talk and explored a wide range of topics.

Many of the TV episodes can be found on You Tube by searching Michael’s

name.

Michael’s religious affiliations include Judaism, Catholicism, Quaker and

Sufism. He would say that “I need all the help I can get”. He donated his

body to the BU Medical Center donation program for students to learn

from. He plans to be eventually cremated. If anyone wants a place to

commune with him, he suggested sitting on a bench in Hastings Park at

308 Brookline St in Cambridge , MA where he often enjoyed walks and

doing yoga and where he held his annual creative labor day party.

Michael was born to Charles Korn and Evelyn Korn(Drazen) both now

deceased. His first marriage to Robbie Kahn ended in Divorce in 1989. He

later married Michelle Schou in Nov 2024 after 14 years of courtship. He

leaves behind his brother, Len Korn, Sister in Law Elyse Barry, Niece

Rebecca Parker, Nephew Josh Parker, Niece Natalie. And his brother Scott

Korn and his wife, Roma.

Michael reports that he is going to watch over his family and friends from

above and that if they hear the word “Wow,” they will know it’s him. He

hopes to be reincarnated.

Michael requested that anyone moved to give a donation, to please give to

the American Friend’s Service Committee.