Biography on jim colemans childhood leukemia

I called him "Doctor J." He called me "Amigo."

Jim Coleman, who befriended me while tirelessly pressing U.S.

government officials to secure the freedom of his daughter Caitlan Coleman until she was released by the Taliban in after five years in captivity, died this month after suffering a long illness, according to his family.

Jim, a Ph.D.

botanist who had worked for NASA, died July 16 in Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, at the age of 75, said his wife Lynda. Originally from Chicago, he moved to Falls Church, Virginia, for high school and received a BA in history from Loyola University, an MS in ecology from the University of Tennessee, and a doctorate from the University of Florida.

"Jim believed so strongly in honor, in justice, in perseverance," Lyn told me last week.

"And most of all, he was my best friend for over 50 years. He knew how to be a good friend to so