Thomas Cahill

Thomas Quinn Cahill (March 29, 1940 – October 18, 2022) was an American scholar and writer. He was best known for ''The Hinges of History'' series, a prospective seven-volume series in which the author recounts formative moments in Western civilization.

Early life

Cahill was born in the Bronx on March 29, 1940. His father, Patrick, worked as an insurance executive; his mother, Margaret (Buckley), was a homemaker. Cahill attended Regis High School in Manhattan, where he studied ancient Greek and Latin. He was thrown out and went on to graduate from Fordham Preparatory School. He continued his study of Greek and Latin literature, as well as medieval philosophy, scripture, and theology, at Fordham University. There he completed a Bachelor of Arts in classical literature and philosophy in 1964, before obtaining a pontifical degree in philosophy the following year as part of his studies to become a priest for the Jesuits. He ultimately decided not to pursue the priesthood, and went on to complete his Master of Fine Arts in film and dramatic literature at Columbia University in 1968.

Career

Cahill resided in Ireland for 18 months from 1970 to 1971 to perform research for ''A Literary Guide to Ireland'' for Scribner's. After returning to the US, he taught at Queens College, Fordham University, and Seton Hall University. During the early 1970s, he co-authored two books with his wife, who was also a writer as well as an anthropologist. The couple later established Cahill and Company, a mail-order book company, in 1976. Cahill served as the North American education correspondent for ''The Times'' of London, and was for many years a regular contributor to the ''Los Angeles Times Book Review''. He was also a contributor to the magazine ''Irish America''. His manuscript for '' How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe'' was rejected by five publishing houses before it was accepted by Nan A. Talese at Doubleday in 1991. It sold approximately two million copies after it was published four years later and was on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list for almost two years. It was intended as the first book in a seven-part series called ''Hinges of History''. Cahill eventually completed six before his death.

In anticipation of writing ''The Gifts of the Jews'' (1998), Cahill studied scripture at Union Theological Seminary in New York. He also spent two years as a visiting scholar at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he studied Hebrew and the Hebrew Bible

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