"The blacklist was a time of evil...no one on either side who survived it came through untouched by evil...it will do no good to search for villains or heroes or saints or devils because there were none; there were only victims." -DALTON TRUMBO
Tom Levitt was not quite five years old in September of 1951—the height of the McCarthy red scare—when his parents, Alfred and Helen Levitt, both appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee and refused to answer questions about their political affiliations. As a result of their courageous stand, Tom grew up in the shadow of the infamous Hollywood blacklist and has many stories to tell about that experience.
Tom caught the writing bug early on from his parents, who encouraged his writing but were tough mentors who held his work to rigorous standards. Aware of the odds against making a living writing, Tom initially took up teaching as a “day job,” but it turned into a rewarding 33-year career as he taught elementary, middle, junior high and high school in some of Los Angeles’ toughest neighborhoods. After retiring in 2008, he began working seriously on the novel he’d conceived decades earlier based loosely on his and his parents’ experiences before, during and after the blacklist, and into which he was now able to incorporate his teaching experiences as well. In the summer of 2017, at age 70, Tom finally completed his historical romance—The Wire Recorder—which stands as his first piece of published work.