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Terry Brooks
Overview
Terry Brooks (born 1944) is the bestselling American fantasy author of the Shannara series, beginning with The Sword of Shannara (1977), one of the first fantasy novels to appear on the New York Times bestseller list. He is a Hamilton College alumnus, Class of 1966, who arrived at Hamilton from Sterling Township High School in Illinois in the fall of 1962. During his freshman year he was an active participant in student governance.
Relevance to Research
Brooks appears in the Hamilton Spectator beginning in September 1962, his freshman year. The corpus documents his election to the Freshman Council and his role on the Freshman Judicial Committee, providing a picture of his early campus life before his emergence as a major literary figure.
Notes
Role: Alumni; fantasy novelist Key events: - Born 1944, Illinois - Graduated Sterling Township High School, Illinois; served as editor of the yearbook - Hamilton Class of 1966 - September 1962: Elected to the Freshman Council, representing his corridor; one of 12 elected representatives (Spectator, Sep. 28, 1962) - September 1962: Profiled in the Spectator as a freshman class representative, noted for his yearbook editorship at Sterling Township High School (Spectator, Sep. 28, 1962) - Fall 1962: Served on the Freshman Council’s Judicial Committee (alongside Al Sigman, Gary Pudaloff, and Andy Horton), responsible for student conduct in the dormitory and Commons (Spectator, Mar. 8, 1963) - Later career: Practiced law; published The Sword of Shannara (1977); went on to write over 30 novels in the Shannara series and other fantasy works
Related Sources
- Spectator, Sep. 28, 1962 (
spec-1962-09-28_djvu.txt) — freshman council election and profile - Spectator, Oct. 12, 1962 (
spec-1962-10-12_djvu.txt) — campus context of freshman year - Spectator, Mar. 8, 1963 (
spec-1963-03-08_djvu.txt) — Freshman Council Judicial Committee listing