Tom Doherty (born April 23, 1935) is an American publisher and the founder of the science fiction and fantasy book publisher Tor Books. He started as a salesman for Pocket Books and rose to be Division Sales Manager. From there, he went to

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

as National Sales Manager, then became publisher of paperbacks at Grosset & Dunlap, including Tempo Books, in 1969. In 1975, he became publisher for

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first scienc ...

. In 1979, he left Ace to establish his own company, Tom Doherty Associates, publishing under the Tor Books imprint starting in 1980, which has grown to become the largest publisher of science fiction and fantasy in the United States. TDA became a subsidiary of

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

in 1987; both are now separate divisions of Macmillan Publishers, ultimately owned by Holtzbrinck Publishers. Doherty continues as Chairman of Tom Doherty Associates, publishing under the Tor, Forge, Tordotcom, Starscape, Tor Teen, and Nightfire imprints.

Awards

In 1993 Tom was the recipient of the Skylark Award (also known as the

Edward E. Smith Memorial Award The Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction, or Skylark, annually recognizes someone for lifetime contributions to science fiction, "both through work in the field and by exemplifying the personal qualities which made the late 'Doc' ...

) awarded by the New England Science Fiction Association for outstanding contribution to the field of science fiction. Tom received a "Lifetime Achievement Award" at the 2005 World Fantasy Convention, and in 2006, the Raymond Z. Gallun Award for outstanding contribution to the genre of science fiction. In 2007, Tom received the Lariat Award from the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historian ...

for contribution to literacy; and was honored with a proclamation from

Charles B. Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel (, ; born June 11, 1930) is an American politician who was a U.S. representative for districts in New York from 1971 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second-longest serving incumbent member of the H ...

, Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, for outstanding leadership to enhance and provide literacy programs throughout the nation. In 2009 Tom received the Solstice Award from the

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a Non-profit organization, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction an ...

for his significant impact on the science fiction and fantasy landscape; and in 2017 the Thriller Legend Award from the International Thriller Writers, an award honoring an icon in the industry.

References

1935 births Living people American speculative fiction publishers (people) American speculative fiction editors {{fantasy-stub