Thomas J. Hatton was born and brought up in Fort Dodge, Iowa. In 1966 he earned a Ph.D. in medieval English literature from the University of Nebraska. He taught literature and playwriting at Southern Illinois University Carbondale for 31 years before retiring in 1996. He is the author or coauthor of five books, several scholarly articles on middle English literature and more than 20 plays and dramatic presentations. After retirement Hatton moved to the Kansas City, Kansas, area where he pursues his hobby of playing saxophone and clarinet in numerous local musical organizations.
