Background
Thomas Hal Phillips was born on October 11, 1922, in Corinth, Mississippi, United States. He was the son of W. T. Phillips and Ollie Fare Phillips. He was one of six children.
75 B. S. Hood Road, Mississippi State, MS 39762, United States
Phillips graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State College (present-day Mississippi State University) in Starkville, Mississippi in 1943.
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, United States
Phillips studied creative writing at the University of Alabama, receiving a Master of Arts in 1948.
12 Rue de l'École de Médecine, 75006 Paris, France
Phillips also studied at the University of Paris.
146 Rue Léo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux, France
Phillips studied at the University of Paris and the University of Bordeaux in France.
Photo of Thomas Hal Phillips
Photo of Thomas Hal Phillips
Photo of Thomas Hal Phillips
Photo of Thomas Hal Phillips
(This long out-of-print and newly rediscovered novel tells...)
This long out-of-print and newly rediscovered novel tells the story of two boys growing up in the cotton country of Mississippi a generation after the Civil War. Originally published in 1950, the novel's unique contribution lies in its subtle engagement of homosexuality and cross-class love. In The Bitterweed Path, Thomas Hal Phillips vividly recreates rural Mississippi at the turn of the century. In elegant prose, he draws on the Old Testament story of David and Jonathan and writes of the friendship and love between two boys - one a sharecropper's son and the other the son of the landlord - and the complications that arise when the father of one of the boys falls in love with his son's friend. Part of a very small body of gay literature of the period, The Bitterweed Path does not sensationalize homosexual love but instead portrays sexuality as a continuum of human behavior. The result is a book that challenges many assumptions about gay representation in the first half of the twentieth century.
https://www.amazon.com/Bitterweed-Path-Rediscovered-Novel-Chapel-ebook/dp/B00OJHSMPA/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Bitterweed+Path&qid=1611136452&sr=8-1
1950
(In a fit of rage over an insult to his father's grave, yo...)
In a fit of rage over an insult to his father's grave, young Marcus Oday kills his friend Obie's father, is convicted of manslaughter, and is sentenced to a term in the state penitentiary. Sensitive, vulnerable, and afraid, Marcus is rescued by an older convict named Mims, who tenderly shields him from harm. In the turbulent prison world, where the jolting code phrase of "Red Midnight" is the signal that a prisoner has escaped, an intimate, soulful affection develops between Marcus and his guardian. It blends brotherhood, friendship, and love. When Thomas Hal Phillips's Red Midnight begins, Marcus Oday is newly paroled from prison. In some ways, he would like nothing better than to go back. Charged with mystery and vivid characterizations, the novel is a distinctive coming-of-age story that examines the bonds between family members and between friends and exposes the tensions that can tear them apart.
https://www.amazon.com/Red-Midnight-Thomas-Hal-Phillips/dp/1578064740/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Red+Midnight+Thomas+Hal+Phillips&qid=1611136626&sr=8-1
2002
Thomas Hal Phillips was born on October 11, 1922, in Corinth, Mississippi, United States. He was the son of W. T. Phillips and Ollie Fare Phillips. He was one of six children.
Phillips graduated from Alcorn Agricultural High School. There he wrote for the school paper, played football, and argued for the debate team. After his graduation from high school, he went to Mississippi State College (present-day Mississippi State University) and majored in social science. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Mississippi State College (present-day Mississippi State University) in Starkville, Mississippi, in 1943 and served with the United States Navy as a lieutenant.
After leaving the military, he studied creative writing at the University of Alabama, receiving a Master of Arts in 1948. He also studied at the University of Paris and the University of Bordeaux in France.
While at the University of Alabama, Thomas Hal Phillips wrote The Bitterweed Path as his thesis for his master's degree. It is a coming of age story and this became his first published book. Published in 1950, this book has been successful and is considered to be very well written.
From 1948 until 1950 Phillips taught creative writing at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
His next book, The Golden Lie, was published in 1951. It has not been as successful as The Bitterweed Path, because, according to some critics, it is not as complex as The Bitterweed Path. In 1952, Search for a Hero was published and won critical acclaim. His next book, called Kangaroo Hollow, was first published in England in 1954, and only recently (2000) has been published in America. In 1955 his book The Loved and the Unloved was published in mixed reviews.
After publishing his five books, he became the Public Service Commissioner of the Northern District of Mississippi, following his brother in the position. He served in this position until he resigned to manage his brother Rubel Lex Phillips's unsuccessful campaign bid for governor of Mississippi. He then served as president of Dixie National Life Insurance.
Since the sixties, Thomas Hal Phillips has worked on numerous screenplays - primarily as a writer but also in non-writer positions. Among the films that he has worked on are Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Tarzan's Fight for Life, Huckleberry Finn, Minstrel Man, The Brain Machine, Nightmare in Badham County, Walking Tall II, Buffalo Bill, and Ode to Billy Joe. He also worked on the Emmy Award-winning Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Furthermore, he has been associated with Robert Altman's Thieves Like Us, California Split, and Nashville, for which he created and then played the part of a presidential candidate named Hal Phillip Walker, whose voice is heard but whose face is never seen on screen. Also in his Hollywood career, Phillips served as executive producer, associate producer, and location scout.
Phillips published the last novel called Red Midnight in 2002 about a young boy in the South who has lost his mother. It was his first published novel in forty years. The novel is the story of a young man discovering himself during the years after the Second World War in Mississippi.
(In a fit of rage over an insult to his father's grave, yo...)
2002(This long out-of-print and newly rediscovered novel tells...)
1950Thomas was a member of the Tishomingo Baptist Church.
In 1963, Hal Phillips managed his brother's unsuccessful Republican gubernatorial campaign against the Democrat Paul B. Johnson, Junior.
Phillips never married.