About The Author

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I’m Tom.

In a nutshell, I used to be a venture capitalist, a job I loved, but now I try to grow food and fuel on a small-holding, offer advice on business/investments and help people find meaning in their lives and reconnect with nature.

One day, I faced the reality that the world wasn’t working as we all thought it should.  I felt that people at the top, the wealthy, politicians, celebrities and bankers (like me for instance) were in a position to make it more humane and equitable while preserving nature’s abundance.  In fact it’s the responsibility of people with power to “do the right thing the right way”.

headshot20141016linkedinSo I left the city and went to the countryside with my family to explore alternatives and test them. We grew vegetables and tried to find balance between living in the world of suits, hierarchies and money and the real world of people, interconnectedness and nature.  As time has passed we have found that you can balance economics and ethics with environment, that there is more to life than a 9-5 grind and competing with everyone else.  The answers we found are universal and available to all who look.

I never intended to be a writer and I’ve a long way to go before I learn the craft, but a friend, Dick Fenn, a Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Princeton,, encouraged me to tell my story.  He said it was what his publisher wanted from him. It was unusual, engaging and personal.  So I started trying to write.

Whoops! was the initial draft and covered our unorthodox experiences of living and working at the “edge of civilisation” as well as the rationale encouraging system change.   It was too big!  So I cut out the living and working chapters and focused on the rationale and technology of system change.  That became Common Sense.

Common Sense. is based on a personal journey to understand universal principles (holonics) which offer a flexible, resilient perspective for life.  How to Get Rich and Famous explores ideas about system change that allow us each to liberate our potential.

The books we publish through Astraea are part of a story that explores the meaning in life, the rhythm of the universe and the choices each of us faces today.   I hope they will help you live, work and play more happily.

 

4 thoughts on “About The Author

  1. Hi, Tom, I knew your grandfather – he was a fisherman – like me and I lived in Bunclody for many years. I’m a writer of sorts with numerous publications e.g The Gentry & Aristocracy of Meath, Kilkenny etc. I can organize your book for publication on a Print on Demand site – Createspace.com which is an Amazon site. That would give you access to a global market including the US etc.without the cost of printing the books. You could do it yourself if you have the time. Createspace will pay you a royalty. If you want me to do it I will have to have a small percentage of the royalties. Of course you will have to try and promote the book online too.
    Anyway if you are interested please let me know.

    I saw the programme on TV. You came across very well. I liked the pic of old Sir Tom.
    Good luck
    Art Kavanagh

  2. Hi Tom,good luck with all your endeavours and say hello to your mother, I recognised her from doing carpentry work on the house in London, with my colleague Hugh Marshall about 25 years ago, tell her she hasn’t changed a bit and I recognised her immediately ,
    Best regards
    Peter McGrath

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