Tom Purdom-- BIO

WRITING LIFE

SCIENCE FICTION

My first short story, Grieve for a Man, appeared in the August, 1957 Fantastic Universe, Hans Stefan Santesson, Editor. (Always mention the name of the first editor who had the good taste to actually pay you money for something you wrote.)

My short stories and novelettes have appeared in Asimov's, Analog, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Galaxy, Amazing, other SF magazines, and various anthologies. Since 1988, I've been writing SF novelettes which have mostly appeared in Asimov's. My novels have appeared under the Ace imprint (I WANT THE STARS, THE TREELORD OF IMETEN, FIVE AGAINST ARLANE, THE BARONS OF BEHAVIOR), and the Berkley imprint (REDUCTION IN ARMS).

I've edited one anthology, ADVENTURES IN DISCOVERY (Doubleday, 1969), a collection of specially commissioned articles on science by Asimov, Silverberg, Anderson, and other leading science fiction writers of the time.

NONFICTION

My first magazine article appeared in the April, 1964 issue of a science fiction magazine called Worlds of Tomorrow. The editor, Frederik Pohl, had circulated a memo saying he was looking for non-fiction for the magazine and I suggested a piece on one of my favorite subjects-- the future of the city. The publications I've written for include Kiwanis, American Education, American Libraries, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. The subjects I've written about include arms control, education, home safety, and the performing arts.

BUSINESS WRITING

In 1966 an engineering professor at the University of Pennsylvania produced two of the first computer-animated films-- a pair of educational films that depicted the behavior of electromagnetic fields and waves. He hired me to write the scripts and that led to a part time job as a science writer for the University of Pennsylvania News Bureau. The stint at the News Bureau eventually led to a lot of freelance "business writing" or "corporate writing"-- reports, brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, press releases, etc. for clients such as the University of Pennsylvania publications office, Wharton Graduate, private companies, and the National Health Care Management Center. The subjects I've written about include medicine and the life sciences, pollution control, home decorating, home maintenance, social work, special academic programs, and resources for people with disabilities.

My closest approach to best seller status was a comic book on shop safety. DOING IT RIGHT was distributed to several million high school vocational arts students under the sponsorship of the United States Air Force--which shows you where you can end up when you start writing science fiction.

MUSIC AND THE ARTS

The commercial market for essays is almost nonexistent. In the late 70's, a Philadelphia editor named Dan Rottenberg improved that situation by converting a neighborhood newspaper, the Welcomat, into a "forum" exclusively devoted to opinion pieces. (Never mind the name of the paper-- it reached 80,000 people in Philadelphia's very affluent downtown residential neighborhood.) I started selling Rottenberg pieces on various subjects around the time I bought my first computer in 1984.

In 1988, I was magically transformed into a music critic and turned out seven years of a weekly Welcomat column "Classical, Baroque, etc.", reviewing three or four Philadelphia music events per column. Since then I've been a music critic and arts writer for two other Philadelphia weeklies, a regional arts magazine called Seven Arts, a national online guide to the arts called CultureFinder, the Philadelphia guide posted by CitySearch, and Philadelphia magazine. For a look at my current efforts as a reviewer, visit the Broad Street Review, an online publication founded by the same Dan Rottenberg who edited the Welcomat.

PERSONAL LIFE

Born April 19, 1936. Grew up primarily in West Haven Connecticut, the Tampa Bay area, and San Diego. Started living in Philadelphia in 1954, after abortive attempt to study engineering at Lafayette College. Married 1960. Currently widower living in center city Philadelphia. For information on my wife, my childhood, and other matters see Where Are You From?, Friends and Relations, and the sixth installment of my literary memoir.