Thomas Rogers (June 23, 1927 – April 1, 2007) was an American novelist.

Life and career

Born in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Rogers graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in 1950 before earning a master's degree and a PhD from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

.New York Times obituary for Thomas Rogers
/ref> He was twice nominated for the

National Book Award for Fiction The National Book Award for Fiction is one of five annual National Book Awards, which recognize outstanding literary work by United States citizens. Since 1987 the awards have been administered and presented by the National Book Foundation, but ...

, for his first novel ''The Pursuit of Happiness'', which was adapted into a 1971 film, and his second novel ''The Confessions of a Child of the Century by Samuel Heather'' (1972). His final two novels were both centered on the same protagonist. Before his retirement in 1992, he taught at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

for three decades and lived in

State College, Pennsylvania State College is a home rule municipality in Centre County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is a college town, dominated economically, culturally and demographically by the presence of the University Park campus of the Pennsylvania Sta ...

Novels

*''The Pursuit of Happiness'' (1968) *''The Confessions of a Child of the Century by Samuel Heather'' (1972) *''At the Shores'' (1980) *''Jerry Engels'' (2005)

References

External links

Retrospective book review of ''At the Shores'' and ''Jerry Engels'' by New York Review of Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rogers, Thomas American male novelists 1927 births Harvard University alumni University of Iowa alumni 2007 deaths Pennsylvania State University faculty 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Pennsylvania