Tom Doherty

Thomas Doherty was born on 23 April 1935 in Hartford, Connecticut, to Thomas Aquinas Doherty (born 1914) and Elizabeth (née Story, born 1914). His father worked as an engineer for Pratt & Whitney during World War II and was part of the team that designed the United States' first jet engines. After the war, his father worked as a salesman and his mother as a post office clerk.

From an early age, he developed an interest in reading, especially science fiction. His mother and grandfather bought him a subscription to Astounding Science Fiction as soon as he could read independently, and he later branched out to reading similar magazines like Galaxy Science Fiction.

Doherty attended Marianapolis Academy (now Marianapolis Preparatory School) before enrolling at Trinity College (Connecticut). His major was initially chemical engineering, but he graduated in 1957 with a degree in philosophy after an abrupt change when he realised he did not want to pursue chemistry as a career. During college, he played guard in football, got tuition money as a "sub-rosa professional boxer", and was a member of the school’s Reserve Officer Training Corps.

Early career

After graduation, Doherty had initially planned to join the U.S. Air Force, but due to cutbacks in recruiting and being told he needed to lose weight to be a pilot, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and posted at Fort Polk in Louisiana. He spent two years there as an FDC artilleryman and doing a lot of reading in his spare time. His enjoyment of literature prompted him to search for a job in publishing when he got out of the army.

Doherty was first connected to Mory Solomon, vice-president of sales for Pocket Books through his father, who was now vice-president of Robbins Floor Products, Inc., a company doing work in Solomon's building. While Pocket did not employ him directly, he was given a job on recommendation as a sales rep working in the Boston north area for one of their national distributors, Select Magazines. This proved to be short-lived, however, as they were forced to let him go after only seven months due to the loss of a major contract. After being offered a local sales job for Pocket in Philadelphia, he moved to the city.

Doherty married Barbara Jean Slocum (born 1934, died 1996). The couple had three children: Thomas, Linda, and Kathleen.

In 1992, Doherty married Tatiana Pashina Doherty. They live in New York City.