Born in Chicago, the youngest of three children, of a Danish immigrant mother and father of Lithuanian ancestry, T.K. Welsh moved to England (for the first time), at the age of only nine months. T.K., accompanied by sisters Michel Ninon and Vanessa Lee, made the journey to England aboard the Queen Elizabeth I ocean liner. Prior to sailing, during a bon voyage party, Welsh’s mother requested of the steward that he bring the baby some ginger ale to drink. Some time later, the author’s mother noticed that the steward was laughing hysterically in the corner of the stateroom. When she inquired what was so amusing, the steward pointed to T.K. and said, “Your baby just drank three glasses of champagne.” The author spent the entire voyage, from New York to Southampton, unconscious.
T.K. lived in the town of Weybridge, England, for the next nine months. Due to the family’s business, the family was then transferred to France, and the author first began attending school in the town of Jouy-en-Josas, not far from Versailles, the location of the famous chateau built by Louis XIV (The Sun King). The family lived in the hunting lodge of the chateau of Jouy-en-Josas. The stone fireplace in the main hall was so large that all three children could walk into it, arm in arm.
Less than two years later, T.K.’s family moved to Rome, Italy. There, T.K. attended St. George’s English School during the next four years. The family lived on the top floor of an apartment building on the Via Poggio Ameno, in a part of the city that was – at that time – still relatively undeveloped. A tempestuous child, T.K. frequently ran away to live with the gypsies who lived in hand-painted wooden caravans in the poppy fields surrounding the building. While in Italy, T.K. also developed a love for acting. At the age of nine, the author performed on the legitimate stage at the Goldoni theatre as a mouse in Cinderella, and in a full-length motion picture produced by Dino De Laurentiis, starring Walter Chiari, called Il Giovedi.
T.K.’s family then moved to San Rafael, California, where the author attended the 3-Rs school, and where T.K. first developed an interest in writing. While in 5th grade, T.K. wrote a 3-page poem; indeed, it was so precocious that even his parents had a hard time believing T.K. was the author! Thus began the author’s lifelong love affair with poetry and fiction.
After less than two years in San Rafael, T.K.’s family was transferred back to Europe; they resided at the Wentworth Estates in Surrey England, not far from Virginia Water – where a key scene from RESURRECTION MEN is set. The author attended boarding schools in Haslemere, Surrey, and Winchester, Hampshire, over the next five years. During this period, the author’s family was transferred back to the United States, but T.K. remained in boarding school in England, and only returned to the U.S. three times a year during the Easter, Summer and Christmas vacations.
While abroad, the author traveled extensively throughout Europe. In addition to living in England, France and Italy, T.K. spent holidays in such far-flung locations as Denmark – the home of his maternal grandparents; Yugoslavia – where the author learned how to swim; and Monaco – where the author learned how to play roulette.
T.K. returned to the United States at the age of 15. The author had enough credits to go to college at that time (kids in Europe start school earlier than those in the U.S.), but the author’s parents decided that T.K. was too young for university. Thus, the author spent two years at New Canaan High School in Connecticut until T.K. was accepted to Amherst College in Massachusetts. The author took a semester off from college in order to work on a freighter 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, T.K. helped launch a literary magazine called Writing at Amherst, won 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, T.K. spent several months traveling throughout the Sahara, primarily in southern Algeria, while working on the author’s first novel. (T.K. wrote a science fiction novel called THE SEED OF ICARUS while in high school, but it was just for practice and never published.) The author then moved to New York City where, for the next two decades, T.K. worked as a freelance copy writer, public relations and advertising executive, corporate spokesperson trainer, Net entrepreneur and novelist. In the summer of 2,000, T.K. had a daughter. The author currently lives the life of a single parent in Hopewell Township, New Jersey.
T.K. Welsh has written seven novels in both the adult and young adult (YA) categories.
T.K. Welsh is not the author’s “real” name. Since many of T.K.’s adult novels are not appropriate for young adults, the author submits his YA works under the name T.K. Welsh, and his "adult" novels under his birthname.
THE UNRESOLVED (Dutton, August – 2006) is T.K.’s first YA novel, and was inspired by the events surrounding the World Trade Towers tragedy. The sinking of the General Slocum steamship was the worst disaster in New York City history prior to 9/11.
RESURRECTION MEN (Dutton, March – 2007) is T.K.’s second YA novel. Set in Italy and England, it draws heavily upon the author’s knowledge of these countries and their peoples.
The Washington Post - Arts and Living; For Young Readers, August 20, 2006
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