Thomas Sancton (January 11, 1915 – April 6, 2012) was an American novelist and journalist.

Biography

Sancton was born in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

. His family later returned to

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana, where he was raised and where he resided for most of his adult life. His two novels, ''By Starlight'' and ''Count Roller Skates,'' are set in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. Sancton graduated from

Tulane University The Tulane University of Louisiana (commonly referred to as Tulane University) is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by a cohort of medical doctors, it b ...

in 1935 and became a reporter at The Times-Picayune. He studied at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

as a Nieman Fellow in 1941 and 1942. He wrote extensively on

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

and the South while serving as the managing editor of ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

'' and, later, as Washington editor of ''The Nation''. In the 1950s he was a reporter and feature writer for The New Orleans Item-Tribune, and taught feature writing at Tulane. He also reported for ''Life'' magazine, and for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. In the 1960s he represented clients of Walker Saussy Inc., a New Orleans–based public relations firm, before launching his own public relations business. In 2013, his extensive papers and correspondence were donated to the Historic New Orleans Collection. Sancton's son is Thomas Sancton Jr., a noted jazz clarinetist, author, and former Paris bureau chief for

Time magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

. He had two daughters, Bethany Villere and Wendy Aucoin. Sancton's wife, Seta Alexander Sancton (1915–2007), was the author of "The World From Gillespie Place," a popular memoir of growing up in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

Writings

Books

* ''By Starlight'' * ''Count Roller Skates''

The Nation

* "The Case of Alger Hiss" (September 4, 1948) * "Hiss and Chambers: a Tangled Web" (December 18, 1948)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sancton, Thomas 1915 births Writers from New Orleans Nieman Fellows Tulane University faculty 2012 deaths Zonians American male writers