About Virginia Coigney
Lived 1917 – 1997 (aged 80). Virginia Coigney was an American screenwriter, journalist, biographer and writer.
Virginia A. Coigney (October 2, 1917 – December 18, 1997) was an American civic leader, journalist and author. She married journalist and author Robert Travers in the mid-1930s and was the mother of folk singer Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.
Biography Coigney was born in Piggott, Arkansas, and raised near Albany, New York, where she quit school to become a reporter for the Albany Knickerbocker Press.
In later life Coigney was an author and radio/television scriptwriter. She wrote scripts for the soap operas Young Doctor Malone and The Edge of Night. She wrote a biography of Dr. Margaret Sanger, the birth-control advocate.
Coigney died in a Greenwich, Connecticut nursing home. She was survived by daughters, Mary Travers and Ann Gordon, as well as four grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.
One of the books written by Virginia Coigney in a "Do You Know" series of books is titled Who Did It? It was edited by Eve Merriam and illustrated by Murray Tinkelman. The first edition was printed in 1963 in the U.S. and published simultaneously by Collier-Macmillan Limited, London. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 63-12789. Other books in the series include Where Is It?, Who Said It? and What's in the Middle of a Riddle?.
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Important facts
People in Virginia Coigney's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Virginia Coigney's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Virginia Coigney?
American journalist (1917–1997)
When was Virginia Coigney born?
Virginia Coigney was born on 2 October 1917.
When did Virginia Coigney die?
Virginia Coigney died on 18 December 1997.
What was Virginia Coigney's occupation?
Virginia Coigney was a screenwriter, journalist, biographer and writer.
What nationality was Virginia Coigney?
Virginia Coigney was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Virginia Coigney. https://biography.guide/virginia-coigney/
MLA: "Virginia Coigney." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/virginia-coigney/.
Chicago: "Virginia Coigney." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/virginia-coigney/.
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