Thomas Nast
Not entirely unexpected, I dropped into this World of Odd on Tuesday May 8th, 1951 around 2:00 PM. I was born in the bathtub of my maternal grandfather’s apartment in Pelham, Westchester County, New York. My mother, a nurse, delivered me herself – alone. Her pediatrician had assured her only the day before that I wasn’t due for another week and that her belief that I was already due was a figment of her imagination. What arrogance.
I grew up with my two brothers in Montclair, New Jersey. My father was at first Vice-Principal and then Principal of Montclair High. My mother was a charge nurse in the operating room at Mountainside Hospital. My early life was happy, although I began to suffer from depression early in elementary school. In high school I added obsessive compulsive disorder to my list of complaints.
I attended Montclair State College (now University). It took me 10 years to graduate owing to my fits of depression and the omni-present ocd. I was elected to the honor society of Phi Kappa Phi in my junior year. I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Geography, and then attended Hunter College in New York City for one semester to study cartography at the graduate level.
I managed a map store in Montclair during the late 1980’s. And began practicing cartography as a free-lancer in the early 1990’s. I retired in 1997 and moved from Montclair to Upstate New York in 2002.
What is the greatest joy of writing for you?
My greatest pleasure in writing is the therapeutic value I derive from the creative act.
What do your fans mean to you?
I write for my readers as well as for myself; I keep them in mind at all times.
Read more of this interview.
This member has not published any books.