J. G. Sandom, often referred to as the "Father of Interactive (Internet) Advertising," co-founded the world’s first interactive advertising agency, Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), in 1984, and is the author of nine works of fiction, including GOSPEL TRUTHS, THE HUNTING CLUB, THE WAVE, THE UNRESOLVED and RESURRECTION MEN.
Early Life
Born in Chicago, Illinois, to Else Hvingtoft and Zane Joseph Sandom, J.G. Sandom grew up in Europe where he attended St. George's English School in Italy and Winchester College in England.
He returned to the United States at the age of fifteen. Following two years at New Canaan High School in Connecticut, Sandom entered Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he completed his first novel, THE SEED OF ICARUS. Sandom took a semester off from college in order to work on a freighter (''The African Dawn'') which traveled to Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique, and then returned to graduate from Amherst with honors with a double major in English and philosophy. While in college, Sandom helped launch a literary magazine called ''Writing at Amherst'' with Caroline Thompson, won both the ''Corbin'' prize and the ''Academy of American Poets'' prize, and studied under a variety of visiting writers, including Robert Stone, Julian Symons and the Nobel Prize-winning poet Seamus Heaney.
Following graduation, Sandom spent several months traveling throughout the Sahara, primarily in southern Algeria, while researching his second novel, THE BLUE MEN. Sandom then moved to New York City where, for the next five years, he worked as a freelance copy writer, public relations and advertising executive, and corporate spokesperson trainer for such companies as Hill & Knowlton and Ketchum Inc.
Internet Pioneer
In 1984, Sandom co-founded Einstein and Sandom Interactive (EASI), the nation's first interactive advertising agency. It grew to become the largest digital marketing services firm when it was purchased by D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles in 1994. Sandom continued to manage EASI on behalf of DMB&B through 1996. EASI clients included: Procter & Gamble, General Motors, Trans World Airlines (TWA), and Mars Incorporated/Uncle Ben's Rice, among others; plus several non-DMB&B clients such as Citibank, Fannie Mae, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Compaq, McDonnell Douglas, Merck & Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Miles Laboratories, Abbott Laboratories and Upjohn, among others.
From January 1997 through October 1999, Sandom served as Director of Interactive at OgilvyOne Worldwide, a division of Ogilvy & Mather, where he grew the company from a loss of $2MM to an estimated $100MM in revenues in 30 months, and from 12 “permalancers” to 650 digital marketing specialists worldwide. In 1998, OgilvyInteractive was named “Best Interactive Ad Agency” of the year by Adweek, and won two premier Cyber Lions awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival for Campaign Magazine On-line and the IBM Olympic Luge Game. OgilvyInteractive's clients included: IBM, GTE, Perrier, Sears, Ameritrade, Ford Motor Company and Jaguar Cars, among others.
From November 1999 through October 2003, Sandom served as President and CEO, and then Vice Chairman of RappDigital Worldwide, the interactive arm of direct marketing/direct response agency giant Rapp Collins Worldwide, an Omnicom Company. Within a year of inception, RappDigital became one of the nation’s "Top Twenty" interactive ad agencies, according to Adweek. Sandom built the executive team, purchased equity stakes in off-shore Web production company Critical Mass (Calgary, Canada) and email marketing company Innovyx (Seattle), productized cyber-analytics and e-Care (digital call center) offerings, recruited the first clients, and managed the business until it was on its feet. He was responsible for executive management of the company, and its growth to more than $40MM in revenues in the U.S., with 300+ employees worldwide, and offices throughout North America, Europe and Latin America -- at a time of industry contraction. RappDigital Network clients included SBC Communications, Mercedes-Benz, Philips Consumer Electronics, Pfizer, Exelon, Kaiser Permanente and Reuters, among others.
Author
In 1992, Sandom wrote GOSPEL TRUTHS, published by Bantam/Doubleday/Dell. Since then, he has written six other novels, including THE HUNTING CLUB (Doubleday/Bantam/Dell), THE WAVE and THE GOD MACHINE (Doubleday/Bantam/Dell).
Booklist called GOSPEL TRUTHS, "a splendid, tautly woven thriller...(and) an intelligent mystery of tremendous spiritual and literary depth." Library Journal said, "A masterful first novel, based on a true incident, which spins a complicated web of corruption, greed and deception." And Mostly Murder characterized it, "A fascinating mystery ... captivating and engrossing."
Scott Turow, author of ''Presumed Innocent'' and ''Ordinary Heroes'', called THE HUNTING CLUB, "A gripping story, well-told...not only a tale of murder and betrayal, but an intelligent exploration of issues of male identity." Kirkus Reviews termed the book, "A Big Apple Deliverance, endowing New York culture with all the corrosively dehumanizing power of Dickey's wild nature...Slickly entertaining right down to the last, inevitable twist. (Film rights to Warner Brothers -- and there's no mystery why.)" And Booklist said, "(Sandom) writes with stunning elegance and nearly poetic beauty...A sure hit with any suspense reader."
THE HUNTING CLUB was optioned for Warner Bros. by Lee Rich for theatrical development; screenplay by Ronald Bass, with Joel Schumacher scheduled to direct.
While known mostly as a writer of thrillers and mysteries, Sandom is also the author of several Young Adult (YA) novels, written under the pen name T.K. Welsh, including the award-winning THE UNRESOLVED (August 2006) and RESURRECTION MEN (Spring 2007), both from Dutton/Penguin.
Publishers Weekly called RESURRECTION MEN, “A haunting tour of London's underclass during the 1830s...Teens will likely be both captivated by Victor's harrowing story as well as his ability to prevail in the face of harsh injustices." The Thrushmetal Review said, "The action and pace is steady and quick, rarely pausing, and finishes in an unforgettable, movie-quality fight-to-the-death.” BIG A, little a called the novel, “A moody, evocative tale...T.K. Welsh is fast becoming one of my favorite writers. His work transcends genre and audience classification.” VOYA said, "Teen readers will thoroughly enjoy the hair-raising suspense in this historical thriller." TeensReadToo termed it, “an intense, dark work...I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction.” KLIATT said, "Like M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this look at sinister events in history makes the era come alive and lingers in the memory." Jen Robinson's Book Page called the novel, “Gripping and fast-paced, filled with intriguing historical details...Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction." The Miss Rumphius Effect said, “T.K. Welsh, where have you been? I loved this book!” And School Library Journal said, “Part historical fiction and part adventure story, the novel brings excitement to Victorian England...Readers will be on the edge of their seats.”
RESURRECTION MEN has been named a Junior Library Guild selection.
Ranked one of the Top Ten Children's Books of 2006 by the Washington Post, THE UNRESOLVED was nominated for a Young Adult Library Services Association -- YALSA 2007 Teens' Top Ten, the only book award recommended and awarded solely by teens. The novel was previously named a 2007 Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book for Teens by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, which recognized only six works in Jewish teen literature last year. THE UNRESOLVED was also nominated for the 2006 Cybils literary awards, and for the 2007 Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) by the American Library Association. It's currently featured as one of the Best Teen Books of the Year 2006 at BarnesAndNoble.com.
The Washington Post said, "Welsh writes with a precision and delicacy unusual for YA fiction." School Library Journal said, "THE UNRESOLVED tells a remarkable story in a remarkable way." Horn Book Magazine called THE UNRESOLVED, "A decidedly unconventional ghost story ... (and) a tightly wound novel." Kirkus Reviews termed it, "A remarkable account." Romantic Times said, "THE UNRESOLVED is a book you shouldn't pass up." The Edge of the Forest said, "It may be the most beautifully written novel I've read this year." All About the Book said, "THE UNRESOLVED is a great one. Mallory is the most well-developed ghostly character I've seen in a long, long time." Midwest Book Review called THE UNRESOLVED, "a wonderfully different kind of ghost story." And Bookslut.com said, "THE UNRESOLVED scores on several levels, most notably as a drama that blows apart all preconceived notions of how history can be retold."
THE UNRESOLVED was recently featured in Horn Book’s Halloween Special, "Ghost Stories", and made Horn Book's list of Recommended American Historical Fiction.
The author's most recent novel, THE GOD MACHINE, was published in April, 2009. He continues to consult in the world of interactive advertising and digital marketing communications, is the author of the CyberSibyl blog, and is currently working on a sequel to THE GOD MACHINE.
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