Tom Phillips

Tom Phillips was born in 1942, a few weeks after Pearl Harbor, the son of an Associated Press newsman. He grew up in London and the New York suburbs. After graduating from Grinnell College he became a writer and editor for CBS News, covering the turbulent second half of the 20th century.

As a hippie, a seeker after "truth and kicks," he hitch-hiked across America, rode the rails to the four corners of India, sat with a Japanese Zen master, and encountered Christianity on a subway escalator. His memoir, "A Beginner's Life," (2015) draws on a wide range of experiences, from childhood in London to college in Iowa to world travels with CBS. In a featured review, Kirkus called it an "entertaining, thoughtful memoir.." that "provides insight on living an authentic life."

Phillips has also published reviews, interviews and essays on the arts -- beginning with a landmark 1967 review of "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in the Village Voice. He went on to write about music, dance, theater, film and literature in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, DanceView, Jazz & Pop etc. He writes and edits two blogs: Occupy the Arts, and The Road to Dotage. Recently he has published several articles in literary journals, beginning with "Passing for White in the Great Gatsby: A Spectroscopic Analysis of Jordan Baker," in the Explicator, Fall 2018.