Timothy Alan Dorsey (January 25, 1961 – November 26, 2023) was an American novelist. He is known for a series starring Serge A. Storms, a mentally disturbed

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating, and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante is a person who practices or partakes in vigilantism, or undertakes public safety and retributive justice ...

antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

who rampages across

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

enforcing his own moral code against a variety of low-life criminals.

Biography

Tim Dorsey was born in

Carmel, Indiana Carmel () is a suburban city in Hamilton County, Indiana, United States, immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 99,757 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city spans across Clay Township, Hamilton County, Indi ...

, and was taken to

by his mother at the age of 1. He grew up in Riviera Beach, a small town in

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county in the southeastern part of Florida, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's third-most populous county after Miami-Dade County and Broward County and the 24th-most populous in the United States, wi ...

just north of

West Palm Beach West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

. Dorsey graduated from

Bishop Guertin High School Bishop Guertin (BG) is a college preparatory independent private Roman Catholic high school in Nashua, New Hampshire. Named for Bishop George Albert Guertin (1869–1931), it was founded by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1963. Scholasti ...

in Nashua, N.H., in 1979. Dorsey attended

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

, where he became the editor of ''

The Auburn Plainsman ''The Auburn Plainsman'' is the student-run news organization for Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. It has notably received awards for excellence from the Associated Collegiate Press and is the most decorated student publication in the hi ...

'', the

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

; he wrote about

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

while at Auburn. Dorsey graduated in 1983 with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Transportation. After graduation, he moved to

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama. Named for Continental Army major general Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River on the Gulf Coastal Plain. The population was 2 ...

, and served as a police reporter for a local newspaper. In 1987, Dorsey relocated to

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, and became a reporter for ''

The Tampa Tribune ''The Tampa Tribune'' was a daily newspaper published in Tampa, Florida. Along with the competing ''Tampa Bay Times'', the ''Tampa Tribune'' was one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area. The newspaper also published a ''St. P ...

''. Until he resigned from the paper in 1999 to write full-time, he worked variously as political reporter, correspondent in the ''Tribune'''s

Tallahassee Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...

bureau, copy desk editor, and, finally, night metro editor and news coordinator. Dorsey lived in Tampa with his wife and two daughters and was a

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

fan. He also still considered himself a

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

fan, cultivated while attending high school in New Hampshire as a teen. Dorsey died in

Islamorada, Florida Islamorada (also sometimes Isla Morada) is an Incorporation (municipal government), incorporated village in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It is located directly between Miami and Key West on five islands—Tea Table Key, Lower Matecumbe ...

, on November 26, 2023, at the age of 62.

Serge Storms

Most of Dorsey's novels feature Serge A. Storms as the primary character. The character has several coexisting

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

es that render him obsessive,

psychopathic Psychopathy, or psychopathic personality, is a personality construct characterized by impaired empathy and remorse, along with bold, disinhibited, and egocentric traits. These traits are often masked by superficial charm and immunity to s ...

schizophrenic Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

, and frequently

homicidal ''Homicidal'' is a 1961 American horror film, horror-thriller film produced and directed by William Castle, and starring Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich, Alan Bunce and Joan Marshall, Jean Arless. The film follows a murderou ...

, but Storms serves as the

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero or two words anti hero) or anti-heroine is a character in a narrative (in literature, film, TV, etc.) who may lack some conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism and morality. Al ...

in Dorsey's works due to his strong sense of

moral absolutism Moral absolutism is a metaethics, metaethical view that some or even all action (philosophy), actions are intrinsically right or wrong, regardless of context or consequence. Comparison with other ethical theories Moral absolutism is not the same ...

and justice. Serge is intelligent, and frequently devises wildly inventive ways of condemning villains (or at least who he perceives as such) to death. His co-pilot in the majority of his adventures is Coleman, whose personality is the exact opposite of Serge. Whereas Serge is a high-strung straight-edged coffee addict, Coleman is an alcoholic drug user who goes to extreme lengths to maintain his buzz.

Novels by Tim Dorsey

Short stories and Essay collections by Tim Dorsey

*''Florida Roadkill: A Survival Guide'' (2010) *''Squall Lines: Selected articles & essays'' (2012) *''Tropical Warning: An Original Serge Storms Story and Other Debris'' (2013)

External links

Tim Dorsey's websiteTim Dorsey on AmazonHarper Collins page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorsey, Tim 1961 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American crime fiction writers American male novelists Auburn University alumni Writers from Montgomery, Alabama Writers from Tampa, Florida 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Florida Novelists from Alabama Bishop Guertin High School alumni