Tom is the youngest of four. He grew up on a farm in Indiana with his brother and two sisters. He served as an infantry sergeant in the Vietnam War and was honorably discharged December 15th, 1969. For the next twenty years he held jobs ranging from installing steam boilers to night manager of a clothing store. In 1990 Tom moved to Arizona, where he began writing. He wrote for and performed in a theater troupe, which examined how violence impacts our lives. He dabbled with standup comedy, performed improvisational theatre, and acted in independent films. In 1995 he earned a B.S. in Engineering...