Author Photos That Bring Me Joy: Thomas Thompson
Submitted by Sarah D. Bunting on March 27, 2011 – 12:37 AM12 Comments
It’s a little disappointing that what looks at first glance like an ascot is actually just Thompson’s shirt collar sticking up from whatever waxed-canvas work-shirt frambus he’s wearing, but the carefully casual Dick Van Patten-model combover makes up for the absence of neckerchief.
Also awesome: the sideburns; and the sense that, seconds after the shot was snapped, Thompson burst into the sort of hysterical giggles that turn into sobbing.
Photo from the 1976 hardcover edition of Thompson’s Blood and Money. The copy is used, and the jacket is so frayed that the photo credit is no longer legible.
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Tags: author photos that bring me joy books Dick Van Patten Thomas Thompson
That is a very combination Dirty Harry Tough But With A Sensitive Heart That Wants To Talk About Your Feelings look. Ahhh, the seventies.
Frambus?
It’s one of my dad’s synonyms for “thingamajig.” (see also: “dickalator”)
I’m getting a Redford vibe, but that might just be the clothing.
The hair… the… hair. It’s mesmerizing, like one of those fancy bandage-style dresses you see on the red carpet and your eyes get all tired trying to follow the path and figure out just how it’s all put together. This hair is that.
His stories are gripping, although the books can be dated-in-a-bad-way. (The reader has to fight through pervasive casual racism and Thompson’s deeply felt commitment to the idea that women over twenty five are aged hags.)
The funny thing about reading Blood and Money was that every day I read it on the subway, the passenger next to me would catch a glimpse of the title and say something like, “oooh, Blood and Money. Sounds exciting!” I haven’t gotten a reaction like that from a book since, and I’m fond of lurid true crime books.
I would’ve loved to have been there when this photo was taken. What was going through the photographer’s head. What instructions were given to Thompson (if any)?
He has such a curious expression on his face. It’s strangely earnest and also annoyed. And the hair is AMAZING.
I could be wrong, but I THINK the frambus he’s wearing is actually the jacket of a leisure suit–the double row of contrast stitching on the shoulder gives it away. I remember the details because my mother sewed one for my dad because she sensed (accurately) that it was a fad that would go away and she didn’t want to spend the money to buy one.
Yep, I’m old enough to remember the 70s. And, given the hair and the sideburns, a leisure suit is almost inevitable.
[…] and the lack of pictures — a serious problem, given the genre, but the author’s own jacket photo may (rightly) have been seen as making up for it — it’s tempting to give up, but every now […]
I was there when this picture was taken at his Malibu house. My dad always did these “author poses” for his book jackets and this is probably my least favorite. “The 1970’s called and they want their look back”. He was losing his hair and let it grow long on one side and combed it over.
We have some interest in making the book into a movie or series and I am researching. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your comments.
Amazing. Please keep us posted!
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