Born in 1973, Tom Morgan is a native of Southern Illinois. He spent his childhood a short drive from the Mississippi River and a stone's throw from the Ozark Shawnee Forest, in that sort of gray middle-ground between the Midwest and the South where fields of corn and soybeans give way to lush forestland.
Fiction and Film were always his favorite pastimes, and after earning a Bachelor's degree in English in 1995 from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Tom moved to Los Angeles and enrolled in the screenwriting program at California State University, Northridge. While there, he studied under Alan Armer, best known for his Emmy Award winning work on the original The Fugitive television series. Tom earned his Masters degree in Mass Communication in 1998.
If screenwriting or film interests you, you can check out his website at starvingwriter.com.
Since 1998, Tom has been busy working as an adjunct instructor (freeway flyer). Currently, he teaches two classes at Antelope Valley College in Lancaster, California and one at California State University at Fullerton. Classes he's taught (or currently teaches) include:
Introduction to Public Speaking
Process of Communication
Introduction to Mass Communication
Introduction to Screenwriting
Advanced Screenwriting
In Fall of 2003, Tom began a PhD program in English Literature at Claremont Graduate University. His major is Nineteenth Century American Literature. His minors include Twentieth Century American Literature and Film. Tom is finished with coursework and is currently studying for his qualification exams.
This semester (Spring 2007), Tom is serving as a mentor to advise incoming students and is working as an advisor for Professor Wendy Martin's Story Into Script class.
Someday...Tom hopes to overcome his need to write about himself in the third person.
"Pop Polynesian Collectibles" -- tiki mugs and Hawaiian shirts, Film, Screenwriting
