Timeline
1939 – Born in Dorchester
1957 – Graduated from Boston English High School
1957 – Enrolled at Northeastern University
1958 – Went to work at Boston Globe as copy boy
1959 – Dropped out of Northeastern University
1959 – Went to work at the Haverhill Journal, Ipswich Bureau
1960 – Transferred to Haverhill office
1960-1966 – Enlisted in Marine Corps Reserve
1962 – Promoted to Assistant City Editor of Haverhill Journal
1963 – Hired by Boston Globe as a police reporter
1963 – Married Emy Thomas
1964 – Assigned to Boston City Globe city desk as reporter
1965 – Alyson Faith Thomas born
1965 – Assigned to Global State House Bureau
1966 – Assigned to Washington for 8 months to cover FCC hearing on Boston TV license
1967 – Promoted to Globe Assistant City Editor
1968 – Jennifer Lee Thomas born
1971 – Assigned to Washington Bureau for four months
1971 – One year leave for full-pay fellowship at Stanford University
1972 – Returned to Boston to write editorials for one year
1972 – Lived undercover for one week in Deer Island Prison
1974-1977 – Promoted to National Correspondent
Assignments: Rome, Africa, Caribbean, 46 of the 50 states; six month series on word hunger; four month series on threats to American coastline
Assignments: Rome, Africa, Caribbean, 46 of the 50 states; six month series on word hunger; four month series on threats to American coastline
1978-1981 – Twice weekly columnist for Boston Globe Living page
1981 – Assigned to projects
Included a five month enterprise that resulted in a seven part series of 13,000 words that retraced the steps of Alexis de Tocqueville 150 years after he wrote Democracy in America
Included a five month enterprise that resulted in a seven part series of 13,000 words that retraced the steps of Alexis de Tocqueville 150 years after he wrote Democracy in America
1981-1988 – Worked as a TV critic, including living three months a year in NY and Hollywood
1988-1996 – Became a feature writer for the Living pages
Spent one week as a homeless person in shelters, which became a three-part series honored by Associated Press News Executives Association
Spent one week as a homeless person in shelters, which became a three-part series honored by Associated Press News Executives Association
1992 – Married Geraldine Denterlein
1994 – John Patrick Thomas born
1997-2001 – Worked as an ombudsman for the Globe
2001-2006 – Worked as a Feature writer & columnist for the Living pages
2006 – Retired from the Boston Globe
2012 – Graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Humanities