Tom Dardis (1926 – November 2, 2001)[1] was an American author and editor. He served as editor for multiple publishing houses such as Avon Books and Berkley Publishing Corporation. Dardis was also an educator who taught at such institutions as Adelphi University and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York.
Life
editDardis was born in New York City in 1926 to Michael Gregory and Josephine Coletta Dardis. Dardis married Jane Buckelew in 1947. The couple divorced in 1982. They had three children.
Dardis died of respiratory failure in New York in 2001.
Career
editDardis was educated at New York University where he earned his A.B. in 1949. For graduate school, Dardis attended Columbia University where he earned his M.A. and Ph.D.
From 1952 to 1955, Dardis worked as an associate editor at Avon Books. In 1955, Dardis became the executive director for the Berkley Publishing Corporation in New York City. He became editor-in-chief at that corporation in 1960 and held that position until 1972.
Dardis worked as a freelance writer from 1972 to 1974. From 1974 to 1980 Dardis worked as a professor at Adelphi University. He worked as a professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York from 1982 until his death in 2001.
Over the course of his career, Dardis edited and authored several critically acclaimed books. Many of these pieces depict the life of the alcoholic. Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright received generally positive feedback from such prominent publications as The Los Angeles Times,[2][citation needed] the Wall Street Journal,[citation needed] and the New York Times.[3][4][citation needed] The book was a best-seller and was named a Notable Book of 1995 by the New York Times Book Review.
He is also well known for his biographies of Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton.
Selected bibliography
edit- Daughters of Eve (editor, 1958)
- Banned! (editor, 1961)
- Banned #2 (editor, 1962)
- Some Time in the Sun: The Hollywood Years of Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Nathanael West, Aldous Huxley and James Agee (1976) (reprint 1988)
- Keaton: The Man Who Wouldn't Lie Down (1979)
- Harold Lloyd: The Man on the Clock (1983)[5]
- Some time in the Sun (1983)
- The Thirsty Muse: Alcohol and the American Writer (1989)[6]
- Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright (1995)
References
edit- ^ Pace, Eric (2001-11-14). "Tom Dardis, 78, Literary Biographer Fascinated by Film". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-01-21.
- ^ Goodrich, Chris (11 July 1995). "Book Review of Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright by Tom Dardis". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Teachout, Terry (16 July 1995). "Review of Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright by Tom Dardis". NY Times.
- ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (27 July 1995). "Review of Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright by Tom Dardis". NY Times.
- ^ Goff, Robert (1 March 1984). "Review of Harold Lloyd: The Man on the Clock by Tom Dardis". NY Times.
- ^ Bolle, Sonja (27 August 1989). "Review of The Thirsty Muse: Alcohol and the American Writer by Tom Dardis". Los Angeles Times.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (January 2009) |
- Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2009. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC
- Periodical entries about Tom Dardis from the Biography Reference Bank
- Tom Dardis Bibliography at Open Library
External links
edit- Obituary for Tom Dardis from the New York Times