Evan Montvel Cohen
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Evan Montvel Cohen (born 1966) was a co-founder and the first chairman of Air America Radio.
[edit] Early life
Cohen was born and raised on Guam.
During the 1990s, Cohen owned several advertising agencies and a market research company on Guam as well as advertising agencies in other Pacific Rim areas. Cohen was also an executive and shareholder at Latte Magazine, a Guam publication which featured articles on local culture. The Company also published an Asia- Pacific Golf Magazine and other speciality publications.
Cohen acted as chief of staff for Republican Governor of Guam 1994 Candidate and Guam Senator Tommy Tanaka. Tanaka lost that election to Democrat Carl T.C. Gutierrez. Around 1998, Cohen testified on behalf of Governor Gutierrez (and against the Republican challenging the election) in the contested Guam governor election case of Joseph Ada v. Carl T.C. Gutierrez.
[edit] Air America
In mid 2004, Cohen became involved in the Air America radio network concept through a meeting arranged by David Goodfriend, a former Clinton aide and Beloit College classmate of Cohen. Goodfriend introduced Cohen to Anita and Sheldon Drobny, a wealthy Chicago couple who had conceived the idea of starting a progressive talk radio network. Shortly thereafter, Cohen and Rex Sorensen created Progress Media, Inc., which was the parent company for Air America Radio. Rex Sorensen is the founder of Sorensen Pacific Broadcasting Inc., a network of five radio stations in Guam and Saipan.
Questions were raised about Cohen's previous ties to the Republican Party on Guam. Cohen dismissed concerns about his political past by saying he was a committed "progressive" and that Republicans on Guam were "left of Paul Wellstone." Although, later Cohen was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2001 only to make a recovery and that spurred him to focus on progressive causes. Mark Walsh, a co-investor and executive at Air America Radio, said he found Cohen's cancer recovery story impressive." On May 7, 2004, both Cohen and Sorensen left Air America Radio. It was widely reported that Cohen and Sorensen were forced out, after disagreements over how much money was raised.
[edit] Creditor lawsuits
Around May 2005, Multicultural Radio, a creditor seeking to enforce an earlier default judgment against Air America Radio, brought a complaint in New York Courts against some of the former and current officers and directors of Progress Media and Piquant LLC, the successor company to Progress Media. Evan Cohen and Rex Sorensen are named in that lawsuit. The lawsuit was dropped in early 2006. The parties publicly announced a settlement had been reached.
