Congressman Charles Rangel’s proclamation honoring Tom Doherty, as presented by Rangel’s Deputy Chieff of Staff Geoffrey Eaton at the Nebula Awards Banquet in New York City, 12 May 2007. (For more information, see our original article on the Nebula Awards).
***
PROCLAMATION:
Whereas: Tom Doherty has been in publishing for 49 years. He rose to be Division Sales Manager, and from there, went to Simon and Schuster as National Sales Manager, and then became publisher of Tempo Books. He was Publisher and General Manager of the Ace and Tempo divisions of Grossett & Dunlap and founded his own company, Tom Doherty Associates, LLC (publishers of Tor/Forge Books) in 1980, and
Whereas: Tom, a life long enthusiast of American history and the “great American author,” recognized a need to get the classics into the hands of educators and ultimately young readers and the Tor Classics line was launched; and
Whereas: Tom, and his daughter Kathleen found that many of the Great American Authors of historical westerns and children books, such as Peter Rabbit, Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and Owen Wister’s classic westerns were out of print, and through WalMart Stores made them available and affordable at a price of two for one dollar to many children in rural areas of our nation, and to victims and survivors of Katrina’s Coastal Gulf Storm; and
Whereas: In 1994, Tom Doherty collaborated with New York City’s Public Advocate Mark Green in an annual salute to “Most Improved High Schools,” and “Most Improved Students.” Through Tom Doherty Associates educator out-reach programs, thousands of copies of books are donated annually to our teachers, librarians and young readers throughout Harlem and the city at large; and
Whereas: As President and Publisher of Tom Doherty Associates, Tom has received many distinguished literary awards including, the Skylark, awarded by the New England Science Fiction Association for outstanding contributions to the field of science fiction in 1993; the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the 2005 World Fantasy Convention. On May 5th, 2007, Tom became the first Publisher to receive the Silver Bullet Award from the International Thriller Writers for outstanding achievement in the promotion and advancement of literacy. This June, Tom will be presented the Lariat Award from Western Writers of America for outstanding contribution to the literature of the American West; and
Whereas: For the last 19 consecutive years, the Locus poll, the largest reader survey in fantasy and science fiction has voted Tor “Best Publisher” in these categories.
Now, Therefore,
Be It Known, in view of the dedicated service and the outstanding leadership to enhance and provide literacy programs throughout our nation, I, Charles B. Rangel, Chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, by the power and authority vested in me, this twelfth day of May, 2007, join in honoring Tom Doherty and the Tom Doherty Associates Family.