About Miles
Miles Michael Coburn (9/23/1949-8/16/2008) grew up and lived in the Heights area east of Cleveland, Ohio. He was one of seven siblings (five boys) in a Catholic parish filled with many other large families, and the best stories of their childhood seemed to have Miles or his friends at the center--whether it was do-it-yourself suturing, incredible athletic feats, or general derring-do. Most of the better stories took place on the nearby grounds of John Carroll University,
where Miles later worked for 26 years. If John Carroll of 2008 embraced and loved Miles, the John Carroll of the 1960s would not have shed a tear if Miles and his family moved far, far away. Beyond Pluto would have been great. It seemed that the sun rarely set without something to be added to the neighborhood legends.
During his college years at Notre Dame ('71) Miles developed an ability to completely master any area of study, a trait that saw him in good stead for his entire life. After receiving his undergraduate degree he earned the rare status of conscientious objector during the Vietnam War.
His service at a state institution for the mentally ill informed his life-long patience and compassion with people of all abilities. He went on to obtain a master's degree in biology (JCU '75) and a PhD (Ohio State, '82) in zoology, becoming a respected ichthyologist. At the time of his death he was part of an international team contributing research to the Tree of Life project.
During his graduate studies he met his brother's downstairs neighbor, artist Peggy Spaeth. Although Peggy had flunked the only biology course she ever took, they learned from each other that art and science share the same creative process. They married and lived in Cleveland Heights, with Miles a biology professor at John Carroll University.
Peggy first stayed home with their small children, and later became the founding director of Heights Arts, a nonprofit community arts organization. Together they raised two children: Kevin, a senior at Ohio State graduating in 2009 with a double major in math and physics, and Rosey, a sophomore at Cleveland Heights High.
Many John Carroll students credit their interest in biology and nature with the fact that Miles was an approachable professor, always available to explain complexities in understandable terms. Many also became infected with his enthusiasm and
went on to careers in medicine and related fields. won the Distinguished Faculty Award in 2003, delighting his parents, Elaine and especially Donald, who had graduated from John Carroll in 1943.
Miles became an expert bicyclist, often doing 300 miles a week, after his knees began to take a beating from running. He taught himself bicycle mechanics and built several bikes from scratch. He road alone daily except for Sundays, when he joined an ever-changing group of bicyclists for a two- or three-hour ride.
You could drop Miles in any spot in Ohio and he could name every plant, bird and fish that he came into contact with. But his interests were broader than local flora and fauna. He was a news junkie, following politics, world events, and science by reading the daily New York Times and gaining international perspectives from news sources online. So, although he was knowledgeable about the immediate world around him, he was unusually well-informed about global issues as well.
He was an early advocate to stop global climate change, and those who disagreed with him quickly found he could back his opinions with the most up-to-date scientific facts.
His family and friends first heard of the melting of the ice caps from Miles a decade before the media picked it up. He personally acted on the global climate crisis by walking or biking everywhere, changing light bulbs to fluorescent, turning down the hot water heater, wearing a sweater rather than turning up the heat in the winter, and educating others. In 2006, Miles collaborated with other faculty and organizations to bring a multidisciplinary symposium on climate change to his university. He also initiated a course on global climate change and the inclusion of the topic in the freshman seminar.
The many hundreds of people who attended the wake at John Carroll University on the Wednesday evening after Miles' fatal accident represented a striking range of connections. There were the colleagues from John Carroll.
There were current and former students. Fellow environmentalists. Family members. People from the arts community, who knew Miles as the quiet, friendly husband of Heights Arts director Peggy Spaeth—a guy who would gladly haul chairs around for a cookie or two. Bicycling companions. Neighbors from Kingston or Queenston or Princeton Roads.
Other families whose kids attended Canterbury Elementary, Wiley Middle, or Heights High school. Scouts and leaders from Boy Scout Troop 22, where son Kevin had become an Eagle Scout. Kids from Project Qué?, a program he initiated to help Hispanic youths from the near West Side get involved in math and science.
The line took a long time to move, and meanwhile all these people spent that time speaking with each other about Miles; about the shared interests and passions that brought them there; about kids going to college, new jobs, daily goings-on. The cumulative impression was of the unmeasurable value this man's life had contributed to so many around him—and a reminder of how even one life can so strongly bind a community together.