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{{Short description|American journalist (born 1958)}}

{{For|similarly named people|Tom French (disambiguation)}}
{{For|similarly named people|Tom French (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
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|death_place =
|death_place =
|spouse = Linda Rogowski {{small|(Divorced)}}<br>Kelley Benham {{small|(2006–present)}}
|spouse = Linda Rogowski {{small|(Divorced)}}<br>Kelley Benham {{small|(2006–present)}}
|education = [[Indiana University Bloomington|Indiana University, Bloomington]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}
|education = [[Indiana University Bloomington]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])}}
|occupation = Writer, journalist
|children = 3
}}
}}
'''Thomas M. French''' (born January 3, 1958) is an American writer and journalist.
'''Thomas M. French''' (born January 3, 1958) is an American writer and journalist.


==Personal details==
==Personal details==
Thomas M. French was born Jan. 3, 1958 to Hans and Katherine (née Darst) French in [[Columbus, Ohio]] and was raised in [[Indianapolis]], [[Indiana]].<ref name=CP /><ref name=Whos>{{cite book|first1=Elizabeth A. |last1=Brennan |first2=Elizabeth C. |last2=Clarage |title=Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners |publisher=The Oryx Press |date=1999 |pages=221–222}}</ref> While at Indiana University, he was the editor-in-chief of the [[Indiana Daily Student]], the recipient of a Poynter scholarship, the winner of the Hearst Competition for Feature Writing, and graduated in 1980.<ref name=IU>{{cite web |url=http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news-archive/8731.html |title=Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas French returning to teach at the IU School of Journalism |author=Indiana University School of Journalism |date=August 28, 2008 |publisher=IU News Room |accessdate=2015-06-27}}</ref><ref name=Whos /> His first marriage was to Linda French (née Rogowski).<ref name=Whos /> French has two sons, Nathaniel and Samuel.<ref name=Whos /> He married Kelley Benham in 2006.<ref name=bookpage>{{cite web|first=Alden |last=Mudge |title=THOMAS FRENCH: It's all happening at the zoo |publisher=BookPage |date=July 2010 |url=http://bookpage.com/interviews/8601-thomas-french}}</ref> Benham documented the birth of their daughter Juniper, who was born an extreme preemie in the series "Never Let Go," published in the Tampa Bay Times, for which she was a finalist for the 2013 [[Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing]].<ref name=Juniper>{{cite episode|title=23 Weeks 6 Days |publisher=Radio Lab |series-no=11 | number=6| access-date=2015-06-27 |url=http://www.radiolab.org/story/288733-23-weeks-6-days/ }}</ref>
Thomas M. French was born Jan. 3, 1958 to Hans and Katherine (née Darst) French in [[Columbus, Ohio]] and was raised in [[Indianapolis]], Indiana.<ref name=CP /><ref name=Whos>{{cite book|first1=Elizabeth A. |last1=Brennan |first2=Elizabeth C. |last2=Clarage |title=Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners |url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoofpulitze00bren |url-access=registration |publisher=The Oryx Press |date=1999 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/whoswhoofpulitze00bren/page/221 221–222]}}</ref> While at Indiana University Bloomington, he was the editor-in-chief of the [[Indiana Daily Student]], the recipient of a Poynter scholarship, the winner of the Hearst Competition for Feature Writing, and graduated in 1980.<ref name=IU>{{cite web |url=http://newsinfo.iu.edu/news-archive/8731.html |title=Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas French returning to teach at the IU School of Journalism |author=Indiana University School of Journalism |date=August 28, 2008 |publisher=IU News Room |accessdate=2015-06-27}}</ref><ref name=Whos /> His first marriage was to Linda French (née Rogowski).<ref name=Whos /> French has two sons, Nathaniel and Samuel.<ref name=Whos /> He married Kelley Benham in 2006.<ref name=bookpage>{{cite web|first=Alden |last=Mudge |title=THOMAS FRENCH: It's all happening at the zoo |publisher=BookPage |date=July 2010 |url=http://bookpage.com/interviews/8601-thomas-french}}</ref> Benham documented the birth of their daughter Juniper, who was born an extreme preemie in the series "Never Let Go," published in the Tampa Bay Times, for which she was a finalist for the 2013 [[Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing]].<ref name=Juniper>{{cite episode|title=23 Weeks 6 Days |publisher=Radio Lab |series-no=11 | number=6| access-date=2015-06-27 |url=http://www.radiolab.org/story/288733-23-weeks-6-days/ }}</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
Thomas French's career with the ''St. Petersburg Times'' spanned 27 years between 1981 and 2008. He is known for feature writing but he started off on the police and courts beats, as well as general assignments.<ref name=IPM>{{cite news|first=Perry |last=Metz |title=Journalist Thomas French |publisher=Indiana Public Media |date=November 14, 2014 |url=http://indianapublicmedia.org/profiles/journalist-thomas-french/}}</ref><ref name=CP /><ref name=Whos /> He is the Riley Endowed Chair in journalism in the Media School at Indiana University.
Thomas French's career with the ''St. Petersburg Times'' spanned 27 years between 1981 and 2008. He is known for feature writing but he started off on the police and courts beats, as well as general assignments.<ref name=IPM>{{cite news|first=Perry |last=Metz |title=Journalist Thomas French |publisher=Indiana Public Media |date=November 14, 2014 |url=http://indianapublicmedia.org/profiles/journalist-thomas-french/}}</ref><ref name=CP /><ref name=Whos /> He is the Riley Endowed Chair in journalism in the Media School at Indiana University Bloomington.


==Notable works of journalism==
==Notable works of journalism==
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He collaborated on "13", a mini-series that ran in the ''St. Petersburg Times'' about middle schoolers at Booker T. Washington Middle Magnet School for International Studies in Tampa.
He collaborated on "13", a mini-series that ran in the ''St. Petersburg Times'' about middle schoolers at Booker T. Washington Middle Magnet School for International Studies in Tampa.


His piece "The Exorcist in Love" is an in-depth investigation into the life and work of Laura Knight (now [[Laura Knight-Jadczyk]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/webspecials/exorcist/exorcist1-2.html |title=The Exorcist in Love |author=Thomas French |work= |publisher= St Petersburg Times|accessdate=5 March 2010}}</ref>
His piece "The Exorcist in Love" is an in-depth investigation into the life and work of Laura Knight (now [[Laura Knight-Jadczyk]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sptimes.com/News/webspecials/exorcist/exorcist1-2.html |title=The Exorcist in Love |author=Thomas French |publisher= St Petersburg Times|accessdate=5 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226210754/http://www.sptimes.com/News/webspecials/exorcist/exorcist1-2.html |archive-date=2011-02-26 |url-status=dead}}</ref>


According to ''[[Washington Post]]'' reporter [[Anne Hull]], French's work has set the standard for a generation of reporters:
According to ''[[Washington Post]]'' reporter [[Anne Hull]], French's work has set the standard for a generation of reporters:
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==Awards==
==Awards==
In 1992, Thomas French won the Livingston Award for Young Journalists for his local reporting on a high school.<ref name=Whos /><ref name=Livingston>{{cite web |title=Past Winners : 1992 |publisher=Livingston Awards for Young Journalists |url=http://www.livawards.org/winners/past_winners.php?y=1992 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701021637/http://www.livawards.org/winners/past_winners.php?y=1992 |archivedate=2015-07-01 |df= }}</ref>
In 1992, Thomas French won the Livingston Award for Young Journalists for his local reporting on a high school.<ref name=Whos /><ref name=Livingston>{{cite web |title=Past Winners : 1992 |publisher=Livingston Awards for Young Journalists |url=http://www.livawards.org/winners/past_winners.php?y=1992 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701021637/http://www.livawards.org/winners/past_winners.php?y=1992 |archivedate=2015-07-01 }}</ref>


In 1998, French won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.<ref name=IPM /><ref name=IU />
In 1998, French won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.<ref name=IPM /><ref name=IU />
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==References==
==References==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150701012142/http://www.livawards.org/pdf/1991/HighSchool.pdf ''A Year in the Life of a High School'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150701012142/http://www.livawards.org/pdf/1991/HighSchool.pdf ''A Year in the Life of a High School'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120701064057/http://longform.org/angelsdemons/ ''Angels & Demons'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120701064057/http://longform.org/angelsdemons/ ''Angels & Demons'']
* [http://www.sptimes.com/News/webspecials/exorcist/index.html ''Laura Knight'']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20000613045922/http://sptimes.com/News/webspecials/exorcist/index.html ''Laura Knight, The Exorcist in Love'']
* [http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2012/reports/juniper/ ''Never Let Go'', written by wife Kelley Benham about the couple's daughter]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20121210155437/http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2012/reports/juniper/ ''Never Let Go'', written by wife Kelley Benham about the couple's daughter]


==Footnotes==
==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


{{LivingstonAward Local Reporting}}
{{PulitzerPrize Feature Writing}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}


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[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Indiana University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
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[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
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[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
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[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
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[[Category:Indiana University Bloomington alumni]]
[[Category:Indiana University Bloomington faculty]]
[[Category:Journalists from Indiana]]
[[Category:Journalists from Indiana]]
[[Category:Livingston Award winners for Local Reporting]]
[[Category:Writers from Indianapolis]]
[[Category:Writers from Indianapolis]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing winners]]
[[Category:Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing winners]]
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[[Category:Journalists from Ohio]]
[[Category:Journalists from Ohio]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
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[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
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[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
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[[Category:Indiana University faculty]]
[[Category:Goucher College faculty and staff]]
[[Category:Goucher College faculty and staff]]
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[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]

Latest revision as of 16:53, 24 November 2024

For similarly named people, see Tom French (disambiguation).
Tom French
Born (1958-01-03) January 3, 1958 (age 66)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
EducationIndiana University Bloomington (BA)
Occupation(s)Writer, journalist
Spouse(s)Linda Rogowski (Divorced)
Kelley Benham (2006–present)
Children3

Thomas M. French (born January 3, 1958) is an American writer and journalist.

Personal details

[edit]

Thomas M. French was born Jan. 3, 1958 to Hans and Katherine (née Darst) French in Columbus, Ohio and was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana.[1][2] While at Indiana University Bloomington, he was the editor-in-chief of the Indiana Daily Student, the recipient of a Poynter scholarship, the winner of the Hearst Competition for Feature Writing, and graduated in 1980.[3][2] His first marriage was to Linda French (née Rogowski).[2] French has two sons, Nathaniel and Samuel.[2] He married Kelley Benham in 2006.[4] Benham documented the birth of their daughter Juniper, who was born an extreme preemie in the series "Never Let Go," published in the Tampa Bay Times, for which she was a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.[5]

Career

[edit]

Thomas French's career with the St. Petersburg Times spanned 27 years between 1981 and 2008. He is known for feature writing but he started off on the police and courts beats, as well as general assignments.[6][1][2] He is the Riley Endowed Chair in journalism in the Media School at Indiana University Bloomington.

Notable works of journalism

[edit]

In 1998, the Times won its sixth Pulitzer Prize. French won for Feature Writing for his piece “Angels and Demons,” the story of the murders of Jo, Michelle and Christe Rogers and the eventual capture of the murderer, Oba Chandler.[6][3]

French wrote the series "South of Heaven," later expanded into a book of narrative nonfiction, about students at the end of the 1980s at Largo High School with the cooperation of LHS journalism teacher Jan Amburgy.[6][3]

He collaborated on "13", a mini-series that ran in the St. Petersburg Times about middle schoolers at Booker T. Washington Middle Magnet School for International Studies in Tampa.

His piece "The Exorcist in Love" is an in-depth investigation into the life and work of Laura Knight (now Laura Knight-Jadczyk).[7]

According to Washington Post reporter Anne Hull, French's work has set the standard for a generation of reporters:

He wrote a seminal piece of journalism called 'A Cry In The Night' that dominated our craft for a long time and made a model for the rest of us to follow," Hull said. "He's been my teacher since the day I met him. IU will soon get a glimpse of his passion and ferocious belief that journalism should be fair and truthful but also raucous, subversive, emotional and daring.[3]

His 2010 book about Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida is called Zoo Story: Life in the Garden of Captives.[6][3][4]

Awards

[edit]

In 1992, Thomas French won the Livingston Award for Young Journalists for his local reporting on a high school.[2][8]

In 1998, French won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing.[6][3]

In 2015, French was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.[1]

References

[edit]

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c "7 selected for Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame". Evansville Courier & Press. June 26, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Brennan, Elizabeth A.; Clarage, Elizabeth C. (1999). Who's who of Pulitzer Prize Winners. The Oryx Press. pp. 221–222.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Indiana University School of Journalism (August 28, 2008). "Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas French returning to teach at the IU School of Journalism". IU News Room. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
  4. ^ a b Mudge, Alden (July 2010). "THOMAS FRENCH: It's all happening at the zoo". BookPage.
  5. ^ "23 Weeks 6 Days". Series 11. Episode 6. Radio Lab. Retrieved 2015-06-27. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
  6. ^ a b c d e Metz, Perry (November 14, 2014). "Journalist Thomas French". Indiana Public Media.
  7. ^ Thomas French. "The Exorcist in Love". St Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 2011-02-26. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  8. ^ "Past Winners : 1992". Livingston Awards for Young Journalists. Archived from the original on 2015-07-01.
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