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Best of the Bronx 2008 Honoree: Thomas Kelly

February 17, 2011

By Staff Reporter

Thomas Kelly is the author of three critically acclaimed novels and has been hailed as the premiere urban novelist of his generation. Before embarking on his writing career, he spent ten years as a construction worker, including four years as a sandhog in the Bronx. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political economy from Fordham University and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.
Since the early 1980s, Kelly has been active in local and national politics through labor unions. He worked as a political operative for the Teamsters Union, as a New York State special events planner for the Clinton campaign, as Director of Advance for the David Dinkins campaign, and as Political Director for the Cuomo campaign. He also ran a nonprofit organization for trade unions. Kelly recently served as a special consultant to New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
New Line Cinema optioned Kelly’s first novel, “Payback,” for Ted Demme’s Spanky Pictures. David Mamet adapted “Payback” for the screen. Kelly’s second novel, “The Rackets,” was published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux and was selected by the New York Times as a notable book for 2001. He adapted the novel for Touchstone Television/ABC as a one-hour drama. His latest novel, “Empire Rising,” was published in Spring 2005 to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the construction of the Empire State Building. It was selected by the New York Times as a notable book for 2005.
Kelly recently developed two television series. He wrote “Night Watch,” an original drama series for HBO, as well as the one-hour drama “One Police Plaza” for Paramount Television/CBS.

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