Tom Barnes Bio

Tom Barnes was born in Fort Myers, and at age of five his family moved away from the sandy beaches of Southern Florida to the wooded hills and red clay of Central Georgia. The land his great grandfather fought for in places like Gettysburg, Cold Harbor and Saylers Creek.
Tom Grew up listening to war stories and fatefully recording them into his journal. He chose literature over science with English lit, history and drama as his prime subjects at Jackson High, Middle Georgia College and the Pasadena Playhouse.
His military service was spent in naval aviation where he became a member of an elite group known as the Hurricane Hunters. His squadron flew out of Miami into the Caribbean and South Atlantic in search of tropical depressions and charting their path and growth until they became full-blown hurricanes.
Once he was out of the Navy, Tom made his way to New York to pursue a career in theater and writing. He continued his war journal, wrote non-fiction short stories while doing plays, which included a stint with Bert Lahr in "Harvey", and Vera Miles in "The Country Girl".
When PBS decided to do the TV Series Heritage Tom was hired as host narrator and writer. His initial writing assignment was to research and write three episodes for the series The Battle's of Atlanta and Chickamauga, and to assist in rewriting another twenty-one segments for the series. Researching, writing and interviewing local historians, while filming on location, was a challenge. But local citizens adding their own family remembrance added color and brought the stories to life.
The final episode of the series was about a Georgia native and a Western legend called Doc Holliday.
The idea for Tom's next project came from an old slaves tale, The Legend of Ebo Landing, a story he first heard at a waterfront bar in Savanna, Georgia. The human tragedy of those Africans drowning themselves got his attention and he followed up by going to the source of the story, St. Simons Island. He talked to the natives, and then did extensive research, which formed the background for the novel called "Tungee's Gold."
Years later when Tom got hooked on the Holliday story he became convinced that much of the legend had been hidden beneath a veneer that dime store novels had drawn and Hollywood perpetuated.