The following remarks were given by Tom Fagan Feb. 23, 2011 at the 16th annual Legends Address before the National Association of School Psychologists in San Francisco.
Alex Thomas was born on June 30, 1944 in London, England. His father, Frank Thomas(unas), was a GI during World War II who married Joan Hansen, a Danish/British woman whom he met in England. Alex is their only child. He and his mother came to the United States by boat in 1945 when Alex was 1 year old and they lived with his Lithuanian paternal grandparents until he was five. The name was changed from Thomasunas to Thomas perhaps in the 1940s to have a more American sound to it. According to Alex, he got his first name from the fact that one of his uncles, named Alexander, was killed in the war three weeks before he was born. Remaining in New York, Alex went to Public School No. 113 for his elementary grades, P.S. No. 85 for junior high school, and then graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1962.
To read more, a purchase is needed: Click here to subscribe