Thomas Rockwell

Thomas Rhodes Rockwell (March 13, 1933 – September 27, 2024) was an American author of children's books, best known for writing How to Eat Fried Worms.

Life and career Rockwell was born in New Rochelle, New York, in 1933, the son of the American artist Norman Rockwell and his second wife Mary Rockwell, a school teacher and unpublished author. He grew up in Arlington, Vermont, a very rural small town. He attended a one-room schoolhouse; there were 23 students in his high school graduating class. His early mentors were Jim and Clara Edgerton, local farmers. He attended Bard College.

His best-known book is How to Eat Fried Worms (1973), about a boy who accepts a bet to eat one worm per day for 15 days. which floated unsupported theories that he was gay and experienced "pedophilic impulses".

Rockwell lived in LaGrangeville, a hamlet in LaGrange, New York. He died from complications of Parkinson's disease at a hospice in Danbury, Connecticut, on September 27, 2024, at the age of 91.

Selected publications Rackety-bang, and other verses, illustrated by Gail Rockwell (1969) - Squawwwk!, illustrated by Gail Rockwell (1972) - How to Eat Fried Worms (1973) – The Portmanteau Book, illustrated by Gail Rockwell (1974) - How to Fight a Girl (1987) – - sequel to How to Eat Fried Worms How to Get Fabulously Rich (1990) - sequel to How to Fight a Girl