Daniel Cohen, RIP
Trivia genius and invaluable contributor to our publication and podcast has passed away at age 40
Daniel Cohen, my friend, trivia teammate, and invaluable contributor to this website and podcast, died last night. He was 40 years old. Daniel suffered a severe health setback just before the pandemic and never fully recovered. But even as his health problems diminished his body, they couldn’t diminish his mind–which was one of the most brilliant I’ve encountered–or his enthusiasm for life.
Back in the 20-teens, Daniel and I would occasionally exchange shit-talking on the Facebook page for former Jeopardy! contestants, but I actually got to know him through a now-defunct trivia-gambling app called Prove It!, where we both racked up huge bankrolls against an assortment of fish. Even though I’d never met him in person, when my parents got sick and died, he was one of the first people to prop me up, never wavering as I went through the most difficult time of my life. Anyone who was fortunate enough to have Daniel as a friend can speak to a similar memory.
Daniel and I eventually met in person, and we played trivia together several times, almost always slaughtering the competition. When he appeared on Jeopardy! in 2011, Daniel was a good trivia player, but not the absolutely elite quizzer he would later become. He roped me into playing online trivia before COVID hit. During the pandemic, I saw just how good he was. The online leagues in which we played together make Jeopardy! look like a third-grade spelling bee, and he was among the best of the best. Though Daniel was good at all forms of trivia, he truly excelled in the lowbrow, pop-culture stuff, known as “trash” in the trivia world.
But there was nothing trashy about his encyclopedic knowledge of sports, hip-hop, fast food franchises, professional wrestling, and video games. He was also an excellent and studied poker player and a skilled software engineer. Even at the end, when his body was a shell, his mind was an unconquerable force. We’ll never be able to replace him on our trivia team. Everything was important to Daniel. No one else knows what he knew.
And I can’t discuss Daniel on this site without mentioning that he was one of our essential contributors. When we started our podcast, he became a frequent guest, always eloquent, fun, and funny. Just like in trivia, we’ll never be able to replace his voice on the show, or the site. I read a lot of articles about Jeopardy!, and I believe that Daniel’s game-by-game analysis was the best, and the most entertaining, on the Internet. He wrote 27 eloquent, funny pieces for us, mostly about trivia and food TV, but also covered ‘Tiger King,’ ‘Outer Banks,’ the weird New York accents of ‘Escape at Dannemora,’ and, most recently, ‘The Bear,’ a TV show that he loved from the beginning. His last piece for us was about ‘The British Miracle Meat,’ a satirical U.K. documentary that got no coverage stateside. Except from Daniel, who knew all about it.
It’s no accident that Daniel’s final Facebook post, on September 22, was an effusive review of his friend’s new Sri Lankan restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky. He lived in upstate New York, but went to that region for a family wedding. “I’ve been traveling this month, eaten everywhere from Buc-ee’s to a Michelin-starred kaiseki,” he wrote. “But this is the one meal that’s going to stick with me: not just because a dear friend made it, but because it felt like a glimpse into a fascinating future.” How I wish he’d gotten to see that future.
That’s an appropriate last message from Daniel. He loved to eat. He loved to travel. And he really loved his friends.
Honestly, I’m too sad to write anything more, even if I had more to say. I do know that our online trivia team has a game this week, but we’re going to have to play without our captain. He would have wanted us to play; he would have wanted us to win. And we’re definitely going to win.
RIP Daniel Cohen. You were loved by many. We’re going to miss you very much.
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thank you for writing this, neal – your portraits of others have always been some of my favorite work of yours. daniel was a truly special person — who else would go to guy fieri’s times square restaurant to “honor” a particularly bleak valentine’s day, as we did in 2013? — and i will miss him a lot.
He was a very good friend.
Thank you so much for this. “No one else knows what he knew” really hit me hard. Lots of Dan memories flooding my brain today.
On behalf of my entire family, thank you for writing this about my brother. Your kind words mean more than you will never know. I’m honored that he has great friends in his life to keep His memory alive 🙏❤️
Thank you, Alyssa. He was quite a guy. All best to your and your family. NP
Thank you for this beautiful tribute to a very special man, gone way way too young. I only met Daniel one time, in New York City for a trivia thing, but his brilliance came through like a tidal wave. I adored his pieces on Book and Film Globe and appearances on the podcast, especially about food tv. Just a few weeks ago, Daniel sent me a nice note about my obituary for Bob Barker, and it’s just so jarring that some get a nice long visit on earth and others barely have time to eat at all their friends’ Sri Lankan restaurants.
The last time I saw (and spoke to) Daniel he was only 5 years old. My neighbor was babysitting him and while talking to him, I thought, “This kid seems really smart.” I remember it like it was yesterday. I started asking him some spelling questions, starting out with “easy” words. My friend tried to trip him up, and asked him to spell “Lincoln.” He easily got it right. Jokingly, I asked him to spell “pharmacy.” Without hesitation, he got that right too. My father was an RN and had his old college books laying around, so I pulled one out. I started asking him how to spell some pretty hard medical words, including “pharmaceutical,” and he got every word correct. I said, “you are pretty smart for a Kindergartener.” He replied that he just turned 5 and hadn’t started Kindergarten yet! I asked him how he knew how to spell so many words, and he said that he memorized all of the words in the dictionary! He said that he was reading encyclopedias now and was at “M.” He knew the capital of every state, multiplication, square roots, etc. I was just BLOWN AWAY!!! I had a basketball net outside and was shooting some hoops and he questioned me about the game. The next day, he came over and said that he watched the Pistons game the night before and continued to tell me EVERY players stats for the game. I only saw him once or twice after that and always wondered what he was doing in life. Once in a while, I would check the internet and see if I could find any info on him. I remember finding that he was in some Math competition one time and that he was on Jeopardy. So sad to see that he passed at such a young age.
I was just beginning to get to know Daniel. He was sometimes quiet, sometimes verbal but always knowledgeable about things I couldn’t comprehend! I’m the matriarch, the gramma! (adopted) I loved him because he was adopted into my family through his Mom, Lori and my son Andy! My heart continued to be heavy over the difficult hand he was dealt in this life! He didn’t deserve it but he seemed to take it in stride and I never heard him complain! I prayed for him every day and told him so! My heart will miss him and yet I rest some knowing he doesn’t have to go through those difficult times any more! Now my heart goes out to his family as they walk this road without their beloved Son, Brother, Friend! Tears will flow for a long time!
Love- Mom- Gramma- Friend!
Very sorry to hear this. RIP Daniel.
Dan was one of the best trivia minds I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. He holds the company record for my trivia company in Syracuse. Such a good guy. He’ll be missed.
RIP Daniel
I just found out about Dan’s passing, and I am so sorry to hear it. I have lots of memories of Dan from the time we were both living in Boston, not least of all his formidable karaoke skills (he slayed Salt n Pepa’s “Whatta Man” with another pal –
the dedication was real), his ability to engage anyone in chat, and the twinkle in his eye. I really loved that. I’m glad I knew him.