The Gift

About the Book

Short stories by definition are really mini-slices of life. The characters and the plot lines are necessarily brief and should be able to convey to the reader the important ingredients of any story regardless of length. Shelly Cohen, in his distinctive style, has achieved those goals in this collection of stories. At the same time, he will surprise the reader with some very unusual endings—“ The Gift” is a prime example of his story telling skills. So jump right in and open your mind to this outstanding collection of short stories. Indeed, there’s something here for everyone, no matter what your age or literary tastes.

About the Author

For more than 30 years Shelly has been part of America's music community. In 1962 he became Assistant Music Director for The Tonight Show. Shelly was Music Coordinator for the Emmy Awards and The Today Show's “Reflections of Irving Berlin and Richard Rodgers”. He also wrote two Christmas specials for NBC, “Christmas With Friends” and “Noel”. He has appeared as guest Conductor with The Los Angeles Pops Orchestra, The Virginia Pops Orchestra, The Pasadena Pops Orchestra and The Brentwood Symphony. In 1992 he formed the 80 voice New Horizon Singers and appeared in many venues in the Los Angeles area. He is also founder of The Pacific Pops Orchestra, a group of professional musicians who in addition to concerts, are involved in many of Shelly's recording projects. Recently, Shelly has become the Musical Director for The San Fernando Valley Male Chorus and has formed his own swing band, The Swing Tones. In addition, he has produced and recorded numerous albums for many major recording companies. Two of these were nominated for Grammy awards. More recently Shelly has branched out to write and produce shows for the stage. His latest were two shows for the West Valley Playhouse, “Klezmer Goes Hollywood” and “Once Upon a Time on Broadway”. He is also a sought after lecturer and in that capacity has toured both East and West coasts.