Tom was born in St. Genevieve County, Missouri in 1947, the fifth ten children. He served in the US Army in the mid 1960s. After discharge at the age of 24, he joined the Lincoln Illinois Police Department and married his wife of 50 years in 1970. Tom later served as the Logan County State's Attorney Investigator. In years to follow, he was appointed Chief of Police in Mason City, Illinois. During that time, he tested and acquired an Illinois Private Detective license which still operates today under the name of Brewster Investigations.

 

An inclination to put words to paper, a fair amount of law enforcement experience, and always active imagination were substantive to "The Road to Floradixie" and the countless other books he has written and published over the years. 

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Tom is also father to two adult children, with grandchildren numbering six. Dana and Tom still reside in Lincoln, Illinois.