THOMAS, William J. 1946-

PERSONAL:

Born October 18, 1946, in Welland, Ontario, Canada; son of Glyn (a gold miner) and Margaret (a homemaker; maiden name, McLean) Thomas. Ethnicity: "Irish/Welsh." Education: Waterloo Lutheran University (now Wilfrid Laurier University), B.A. Politics: "A cowering post-9/11 Liberal." Religion: "Failed Catholic." Hobbies and other interests: Reading, hiking, cooking.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—R.R.2, Port Colborne, Ontario L3K 5V4, Canada.

CAREER:

Writer. Alive and Well, St. Catharine's, Ontario, Canada, editor and feature writer for two years; What's Up Niagara?, St. Catharine's, Ontario, Canada, editor for four years; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, television writer for two years; teacher of humor writing classes for ten years, including courses at Chautauqua Institute in New York and at Stephen Leacock Museum, Orillia, Ontario, Canada; also works as a humorist speaker. Canadian Humane Societies, fund raiser.

MEMBER:

Writers Union of Canada.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Two Gemini Award nominations, Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, for Breaking All the Rules: The Story of Trivial Pursuit and Chasing the Dream; Niagara Book Prize.

WRITINGS:

HUMOR

Malcolm and Me: Life in the Litter Box, Stoddart Publishing (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1993.

Margaret and Me: All Humour Needs a Victim and Your Mother Should Come First!, Stoddart Publishing (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1998.

The Dog Rules (Damn Near Everything!), Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Never Hitchhike on the Road Less Travelled, Key Porter Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2002.

Other books include Hey! Is That Guy Dead or Is He the Skip? and Guys: Not Real Bright and Damn Proud of It. Television writings include Breaking All the Rules: The Story of Trivial Pursuit and Chasing the Dream, both for Canadian Broadcasting Corp. Author of "All the World's a Circus," a nationally syndicated newspaper column. Contributor to periodicals, including Traveler and DreamScapes.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

The Un-authorized, Unnecessary, Un-conscionable Biography of Celine Dion; Why Elvis Is Dead but God Allows His Impersonators to Live.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

OTHER

William J. Thomas,http://www.williamthomas.ca/ (February 28, 2003).