About Me
My Biography
Hello !
Meet Me
I was born in Dallas, Texas, and spent considerable time as a young boy visiting my grandparents in California. I learned much about the geography of Texas and the Southwestern United States.
I developed my unique style of descriptive storytelling, with my words painting a powerful picture of life in rural Texas, as I listened to the tales and recollections of the years before and after World War II.
I wrote several small booklets before age ten about adventures and daring deeds.
I am a former Marine, postal worker, geologist, environmental scientist, and college instructor.
I live in San Antonio, Texas.
” I loved to listen to the stories my family would tell about their sharecropping roots in East Texas, and their migration westward into California after WWII.”
I've authored multiple screenplays adapted from the book, and I've entered both the screenplays and the book in various screenwriting contests and book fairs, garnering awards and participating in the festivals.
My Awards
What Did They Say About My Book?
This story of young love pulled asunder because of war, before it has even begun, is as ageless as time itself. But, it is so well written by an author who has his heart and soul invested...in sharing the wonderful and thoroughly enthralling story of his parents beautiful pursuit of paradise!
A semi biographical take on his parents' lives, Pursuit of Paradise is a candid yet stirring work by Tom Smith. Horace "Red" Smith is a soldier serving in the Pacific War in World War II. He experiences the grueling rigors of combat in the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and beyond; the war takes a huge toll upon his generation and not only are the service members affected, but also their loved ones and supporters at home, including his love, "Judy" Smith. The work is extensively researched and is a worthy and fitting tribute to his parents and all the men and women who served in and were affected by this devastating conflict.
I was able to relate in many ways to the story, not only as a historian and researcher, but also as a Texan with Filipino descent. It was people like Red that helped my parents' country, the Philippines, evict the Japanese invaders. Freedom comes at a cost, and the toll it took on many is unimaginable.
Smith's descriptions of the locations, cultures and the time period are accurate, and he is very meticulous. It was a very enjoyable AND informative read. If you want to know more about this period, what the individuals during this time had to endure both on the war front and at home, this is a MUST read book.
A very real and moving story. My wife and I read this together and found it spoke to both of us. A story of family, of friends, of separation, of carrying on in the face of it all. I especially think that anyone with military experience, or the loved ones of anyone with military experience will really like this book!
A debut novel about a young soldier’s World War II experiences in the South Pacific and his romance with a hometown girl.
Smith mines a rich trove of family history to tell the fictionalized story of his parents, Red and Judy Smith, who hailed from farming families in East Texas and fell in love as teenagers. The novel opens on a hot day in Hopkins County in August of 1940, when local, 19-year-old baseball player Horace Garlton “Red” Smith, a responsible eldest son in his family, first notices Juliette “Judy” Hamilton, a 12-year-old girl from a neighboring farm, cheering him on. Despite the age difference, Judy says to herself that “she would, by hook or crook, someday, somehow, win the heart of this Red-Headed Prince and be carried away to Paradise, to live, as they say, happily ever after.” The story follows their later wartime courtship and postwar marriage, closing with epilogues that capture each spouse’s final moments, reaffirming their bond. Judy remains a somewhat idealized character throughout, and this narrative choice makes the postwar section of the novel feel less compelling than earlier chapters. But the book succeeds in its detailed evocation of Red’s transformation from a young farm boy to a seasoned soldier fighting in ferocious jungle battles in the South Pacific, tried by combat and buoyed by the strong bonds of friendship with a small band of fellow soldiers. In a prelude, Smith effectively foreshadows Red’s experiences during the November 1944 battle in Leyte in the Philippines: “The night was dark as pitch. Howling winds carried horizontal sheets of blinding, cutting rain.” And although Red’s survival is never in doubt, the tension is high as each battle threatens his closest friends—Nobel Horner, Pete Petty, and Kenny Herrod—and the other members of the mortar unit. Crisp, believable dialogue and backstories bring these secondary characters into sharper focus.
A well-researched tribute and a memorable addition to World War II literature.
What Did They Say About My Book?
This story of young love pulled asunder because of war, before it has even begun, is as ageless as time itself. But, it is so well written by an author who has his heart and soul invested...in sharing the wonderful and thoroughly enthralling story of his parents beautiful pursuit of paradise!
A semi biographical take on his parents' lives, Pursuit of Paradise is a candid yet stirring work by Tom Smith. Horace "Red" Smith is a soldier serving in the Pacific War in World War II. He experiences the grueling rigors of combat in the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and beyond; the war takes a huge toll upon his generation and not only are the service members affected, but also their loved ones and supporters at home, including his love, "Judy" Smith. The work is extensively researched and is a worthy and fitting tribute to his parents and all the men and women who served in and were affected by this devastating conflict.
I was able to relate in many ways to the story, not only as a historian and researcher, but also as a Texan with Filipino descent. It was people like Red that helped my parents' country, the Philippines, evict the Japanese invaders. Freedom comes at a cost, and the toll it took on many is unimaginable.
Smith's descriptions of the locations, cultures and the time period are accurate, and he is very meticulous. It was a very enjoyable AND informative read. If you want to know more about this period, what the individuals during this time had to endure both on the war front and at home, this is a MUST read book.
A very real and moving story. My wife and I read this together and found it spoke to both of us. A story of family, of friends, of separation, of carrying on in the face of it all. I especially think that anyone with military experience, or the loved ones of anyone with military experience will really like this book!
A debut novel about a young soldier’s World War II experiences in the South Pacific and his romance with a hometown girl. Smith mines a rich trove of family history to tell the fictionalized story of his parents, Red and Judy Smith, who hailed from farming families in East Texas and fell in love as teenagers. The novel opens on a hot day in Hopkins County in August of 1940, when local, 19-year-old baseball player Horace Garlton “Red” Smith, a responsible eldest son in his family, first notices Juliette “Judy” Hamilton, a 12-year-old girl from a neighboring farm, cheering him on. Despite the age difference, Judy says to herself that “she would, by hook or crook, someday, somehow, win the heart of this Red-Headed Prince and be carried away to Paradise, to live, as they say, happily ever after.” The story follows their later wartime courtship and postwar marriage, closing with epilogues that capture each spouse’s final moments, reaffirming their bond. Judy remains a somewhat idealized character throughout, and this narrative choice makes the postwar section of the novel feel less compelling than earlier chapters. But the book succeeds in its detailed evocation of Red’s transformation from a young farm boy to a seasoned soldier fighting in ferocious jungle battles in the South Pacific, tried by combat and buoyed by the strong bonds of friendship with a small band of fellow soldiers. In a prelude, Smith effectively foreshadows Red’s experiences during the November 1944 battle in Leyte in the Philippines: “The night was dark as pitch. Howling winds carried horizontal sheets of blinding, cutting rain.” And although Red’s survival is never in doubt, the tension is high as each battle threatens his closest friends—Nobel Horner, Pete Petty, and Kenny Herrod—and the other members of the mortar unit. Crisp, believable dialogue and backstories bring these secondary characters into sharper focus. A well-researched tribute and a memorable addition to World War II literature.