LEARN MORE ABOUT: 'Kiss Me Once' author Thomas Gifford
Thomas Gifford was a bestselling author of thriller novels. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, he moved to Minnesota after graduating from Harvard. After eight years as a traveling textbook salesman, he wrote Benchwarmer Bob (1974), a biography of Minnesota Vikings defensive end Bob Lurtsema. The Wind Chill Factor (1975), a novel about dark dealings among ex-Nazis, introduced John Cooper, whom he would revisit in The First Sacrifice (1994), and was one of several books he wrote set in and around Minneapolis.
He followed it with the Edgar-nominated The Cavanaugh Quest (1976), and The Glendower Legacy (1978), a story about an academic who discovers that George Washington may have been a British spy. The novel was a success, and was adapted for the screen as Dirty Tricks (1981), starring Elliott Gould. In the 1980’s Gifford wrote under the pennames Thomas Maxwell and Dana Clarins, and in 1996 he moved back to Dubuque, to renovate his childhood home. He died of cancer in 2000.
Want to learn more about Thomas Gifford? His daughter, Rachel Gifford, and a freelance book reviewer, Ken Wisneski, speak fondly of him in his Star Tribune obituary, which you can read here. And you can find more facts about him on his Wikipedia page.
