The Private Family Story of Benjamin Edwin Cohen

The oldest child of television journalist Meredith Vieira and late journalist, producer, and author Richard M. Cohen is Benjamin Edwin Cohen. From February 9, 1989, Benjamin was raised in a household that discussed journalism, television, books, and public life. Despite having two accomplished parents, he has settled into a peaceful life.

Ben’s story stands out for the contrast between his family’s public presence and his privacy. His mother appeared on The View, Today, and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. His father spoke candidly about multiple sclerosis, cancer, marriage, and family life while working behind the scenes in television news for decades. Benjamin has generally stayed out of the spotlight.

Thus, his story is about family rather than notoriety. Three children grew raised with a popular television mother, a father with terrible chronic illness, and parents who sought to keep their home life normal despite remarkable circumstances.

Basic Information

Growing Up as Meredith Vieira’s Eldest Child

Benjamin was born on February 9, 1989, during an important period in his mother’s journalism career. Meredith Vieira was already an established broadcast journalist, while Richard Cohen had built a respected career in television news.

The family eventually made its home in Westchester County, New York, in the Irvington and Sleepy Hollow area. Benjamin and his younger siblings grew up there as their parents balanced demanding professional lives with family responsibilities.

Benjamin was followed by Gabriel Anthony Cohen in 1991 and Lily Max Cohen in 1993. The three siblings formed the center of a family that had to navigate both the ordinary challenges of childhood and the extraordinary demands created by Richard’s health.

Richard had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at about age 25. Over the decades, the disease affected his mobility and eventually contributed to legal blindness. He also survived two bouts of colon cancer. His health became a permanent part of the family’s landscape, but it did not define every aspect of their lives.

Richard wrote about the realities of raising children while living with chronic illness. Some activities that other fathers might take for granted were difficult for him, but he emphasized communication, attention, and emotional connection. For Benjamin and his siblings, family time could take many forms.

Meredith Vieira as a Mother

Meredith’s career provides an important window into Benjamin’s childhood. She was a prominent journalist at a time when women in television news were often expected to make difficult choices between demanding careers and family responsibilities.

After Benjamin’s birth, Vieira’s desire to remain involved in his upbringing became an important factor in her professional decisions. Her experience at 60 Minutes and the pressures surrounding part-time work illustrated how complicated the balance could be.

I find this part of Benjamin’s family story particularly revealing because his mother’s career decisions were not made in isolation. The arrival of children changed the rhythm of her professional life.

Vieira later spoke openly about parenting, including the emotional difficulty of watching children grow independent. When Benjamin left for college around 2007, she described the experience as a major emotional transition. The event marked more than the beginning of his adult life. For his mother, it also represented the end of one intensely involved stage of motherhood.

She wrote and spoke about the strange mixture of pride, sadness, anxiety, and emptiness that can accompany a child’s departure from home. Her reflections showed that behind the television personality was a mother experiencing the same emotional upheaval familiar to many parents.

Gabriel Anthony Cohen and His Journalism Career

Benjamin’s younger brother Gabriel Anthony Cohen, often called Gabe, followed the family tradition into journalism.

Born in 1991, Gabe developed a career as a television and national news reporter. He worked at KHQ-TV in Spokane, Washington, and KOMO-TV in Seattle before moving into national reporting with TEGNA. His work included involvement with Verify, the company’s fact-checking initiative.

Around 2021, Gabe joined CNN as a correspondent based in Washington, D.C. His reporting has covered national political stories, elections, disasters, FEMA, and other major developments.

Unlike Benjamin, Gabe’s professional life naturally places him in front of cameras. His career has also brought recognition, including regional Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards.

Gabe married Alli, whose background also includes journalism. Their family grew with the birth of their child, Cameron, around the summer of 2024. Cameron became the first grandchild of Meredith and Richard.

The arrival of Cameron added a new generation to the Cohen family shortly before Richard’s final illness.

Lily Max Cohen and Her Creative Career

Benjamin’s younger sister Lily Max Cohen was born on November 25, 1993. She took a different professional route from both her brother Gabe and her parents.

Lily studied communication at Northwestern University and graduated around 2015. Her career has included digital media, lifestyle content, and brand strategy.

She has been associated with Tastemade, a company known for food, travel, and lifestyle video content. Her work reflects the changing media environment that emerged as digital platforms became increasingly important to entertainment and publishing.

Lily has also occasionally appeared in family-oriented television segments involving her mother. These appearances offered viewers a glimpse of the family dynamic without turning Lily into a conventional television personality.

She is married to Charlie, adding another member to the extended Cohen family.

Richard M. Cohen and the Family’s Experience With Illness

Richard Merrill Cohen was born on February 14, 1948, and died on December 24, 2024, at the age of 76.

His professional résumé included work as a journalist and senior producer for CBS News and CNN, along with earlier work associated with ABC and PBS. He became especially known later in life for writing about illness and resilience.

His books included Blindsided, Strong at the Broken Places, and Chasing Hope. Through his writing, Richard transformed personal struggles into broader reflections on illness, family, perseverance, and hope.

He met Meredith while working within television news circles. They married on June 14, 1986, several years before Benjamin was born. Richard had already disclosed his multiple sclerosis to Meredith on their second date.

Their marriage lasted for more than 38 years.

For Benjamin, the illness was not an abstract medical subject. It was part of the family’s daily life from childhood onward. His father eventually became legally blind, faced physical limitations, and dealt with additional serious health problems.

Yet the family continued to build traditions, maintain relationships, and support one another.

Meredith Vieira’s Portuguese Family Heritage

Benjamin’s maternal heritage also adds another layer to the family’s story.

Meredith’s father was Dr. Edwin Vieira, born May 15, 1904, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He worked as a family physician and came from Portuguese Azorean ancestry.

Her mother was Mary Elsie Rosa Vieira, who lived until August 15, 2004. The family maintained strong Portuguese roots connected particularly with the Azores, including Faial and neighboring islands.

Benjamin’s maternal uncles include Edwin Vieira Jr., also known as Ed, along with Steve or Stephen Vieira and Jeff or Jeffrey Vieira.

This extended family background helped shape Meredith’s understanding of family, independence, and responsibility. Those values became part of the environment in which Benjamin and his siblings were raised.

Benjamin’s Private Adult Life

Benjamin’s adult life is particularly notable for its lack of accurate public information.

Benjamin has mostly avoided public reporting, unlike Gabe, whose journalism career receives regular coverage, and Lily, whose digital media work finds occasional attention.

Some secondary lifestyle references link him to Harvard Business School or Silicon Valley technology. These details are not supported by major primary sources, so use caution.

No public professional timeline exists like his parents’ and brother’s. He has no accurate public financial or net worth account.

Insufficient information is meaningful. Benjamin appears to have separated his family’s reputation from his personal life.

The Family During Richard Cohen’s Final Months

The Cohen family’s bond became especially visible during Richard’s final illness in 2024.

He developed pneumonia and experienced a serious decline in health. By Thanksgiving, members of the family had gathered as his condition worsened.

Richard died on December 24, 2024, surrounded by family.

The public announcements that followed in January 2025 identified Benjamin, Gabriel, and Lily as his surviving children. The three siblings had spent decades navigating the complexities of their father’s illness, and his death brought the long chapter of that experience to an end.

For Benjamin, the loss was deeply personal even though he did not become a public spokesperson for it. His father’s career and writing had made their family circumstances unusually visible, but Benjamin himself continued to maintain a comparatively quiet presence.

Benjamin Cohen and His Siblings During the Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic provided another unusual chapter in the family’s history.

Meredith later discussed how the family stayed connected virtually during periods when physical visits were difficult. Benjamin reportedly experienced a mild case of COVID-19 early in the pandemic.

For a family already accustomed to dealing with health concerns, the pandemic created another reason to remain cautious and connected from a distance.

The experience also reinforced a pattern that had existed for years: physical separation did not necessarily mean emotional distance.

Meredith Vieira’s Reflections on Parenting

Meredith’s public reflections on motherhood provide some of the clearest clues about what family life meant to Benjamin’s parents.

She has discussed the pressure parents can place on themselves to keep children constantly occupied. Her comments about overscheduling and so-called mom peer pressure reflected a preference for giving children room to experience downtime rather than turning childhood into an endless calendar of activities.

She has also spoken about fertility struggles, miscarriages, career sacrifices, and the challenge of raising children while supporting a husband with chronic illness.

Benjamin’s birth was part of that complicated journey. Gabriel and Lily followed, and the three children became the center of Vieira’s life beyond the television studio.

Her reflections around Benjamin’s departure for college remain particularly memorable. The confident television journalist suddenly found herself confronting the quiet of an empty room and the realization that her oldest child no longer needed her in quite the same way.

It was another turning point in the family story.

A Family Shaped by Journalism

Cohen family is nearly a journalism ecosystem.

Richard wrote books about disease after decades of news reporting. Meredith became a famous American TV personality and journalist. Gabe reported nationally on TV. Lily adopted brand strategy and digital media.

Benjamin breaks that mold.

His life shows that prominent families do not guaranty public careers. He has continued a fantastic journalistic history without becoming a media figure.

That contrast makes the family narrative unique. One sibling covers Washington news, another works in digital media, the parents are broadcast journalists, and the oldest is private.

Extended Timeline of Benjamin Edwin Cohen’s Family

Frequently Asked Questions About Benjamin Edwin Cohen

Who is Benjamin Edwin Cohen?

Benjamin Edwin Cohen is the eldest child of television journalist Meredith Vieira and the late journalist and author Richard M. Cohen. He was born on February 9, 1989, and has maintained a relatively private adult life.

Who are Benjamin Cohen’s siblings?

Benjamin has two younger siblings, Gabriel Anthony Cohen and Lily Max Cohen. Gabriel became a journalist and CNN correspondent, while Lily has worked in digital media and brand strategy.

Who are Benjamin Cohen’s parents?

His parents are Meredith Vieira and Richard M. Cohen. Meredith is a longtime television journalist and host, while Richard was a television news producer, journalist, and author who wrote extensively about living with multiple sclerosis and cancer.

When was Benjamin Cohen born?

Benjamin Edwin Cohen was born on February 9, 1989.

What does Benjamin Cohen do for a living?

Reliable public information about Benjamin’s professional career is limited. Unlike his parents and brother Gabriel, he has not maintained a prominent public professional profile.

Is Benjamin Cohen married?

Detailed, reliable public information about Benjamin’s marital status and personal relationships is limited.

What happened to Benjamin Cohen’s father?

Richard M. Cohen died on December 24, 2024, at age 76, following a serious illness involving pneumonia. He was surrounded by family at the time of his death.

What did Richard Cohen write about?

Richard Cohen wrote books about chronic illness, resilience, and family life. His best-known works include Blindsided, Strong at the Broken Places, and Chasing Hope.

What is Benjamin Cohen’s relationship with Meredith Vieira?

Benjamin is Meredith Vieira’s eldest child. Vieira has publicly discussed motherhood, including the emotional experience of Benjamin leaving home for college and the broader challenge of balancing a demanding television career with raising three children.

Does Benjamin Cohen have children?

There is limited reliable public information confirming whether Benjamin has children. His brother Gabriel became a father around the summer of 2024, when he and his wife Alli welcomed Cameron, the first publicly noted grandchild of Meredith and Richard.

Where did Benjamin Cohen grow up?

Benjamin grew up primarily in the Westchester County area of New York with his parents and two younger siblings.

Why is Benjamin Cohen not widely known?

Benjamin has largely maintained a private life. Although he comes from a highly recognizable journalism family, he has not pursued a public career that would generate the same level of media coverage as his mother, father, or brother.