Tom Dardis (1926 – November 2, 2001) was an American author and editor. He served as editor for multiple publishing houses such as

Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reach ...

and Berkley Publishing Corporation. Dardis was also an educator who taught at such institutions as

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York. Adelphi also has centers in Manhattan, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County. There is also a virtual, online campus for remote students. It is the oldest institution of higher ed ...

and the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...

of the

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

Life

Dardis was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

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

Dardis was educated at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

where he earned his

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1949. For graduate school, Dardis attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

where he earned his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and

Ph.D A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

. From 1952 to 1955, Dardis worked as an associate editor at

. In 1955, Dardis became the executive director for the Berkley Publishing Corporation in

. 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

. He worked as a professor of English at

of the

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 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

, and the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

. The book was a best-seller and was named a Notable Book of 1995 by the

New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

. He is also well known for his biographies of

Harold Lloyd Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. (April 20, 1893 – March 8, 1971) was an American actor, comedian, and stunt performer who appeared in many silent comedy films.Obituary ''Variety'', March 10, 1971, page 55. One of the most influential film co ...

and

Buster Keaton Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton (October 4, 1895 – February 1, 1966) was an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is best known for his silent film work, in which his trademark was physical comedy accompanied by a stoic, deadpan expression ...

Selected bibliography

*''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) *''Some time in the Sun'' (1983) *''The Thirsty Muse: Alcohol and the American Writer'' (1989) *''Firebrand: The Life of Horace Liveright'' (1995)

References

*''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

from the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dardis, Tom American book editors 1926 births 2001 deaths New York University alumni Columbia University alumni Adelphi University faculty John Jay College of Criminal Justice faculty Writers from New York City 20th-century American male writers