Cook, Lewis E.

A resident of Circleville, Ohio, Lewis E. Cook began to study Esperanto seriously in 1969 and became an key member of the Esperanto Association of Central Ohio. Born in Marysville on October 31, 1935, and a graduate of Ohio University and the University of Madrid, he joined his father to form the Lewis E. Cook and Son Insurance Agency, becoming well known as an insurance agent and certified tax preparer. His passion in college and after was the study of language, including Esperanto, Spanish, German, and Arabic. He died September 20, 2014, in Grove City.

The papers of Lewis E. Cook offer insight into grassroots Esperantism, with a wealth of information on the Esperanto Association of Central Ohio and on efforts to spread the language regionally and nationally. The collection contains a large number of books in Esperanto, pamphlets, and periodicals, with a few boxes of Cook’s personal papers.