PEOPLE OF INTEREST
The
GLOBAL THINKER
BY JANIE GOULD
PHOTOS BY ED DRONDOSKI
Milt Thomas, a prolific writer, ex-music
countries, including Egypt, his favorite, which he
visited in February, along with side trips to Dubai
and Abu Dhabi, for the 18th time.
Thomas, 70, has an astonishing array of talents
he worked in the music business in Chicago and
New York. He was marketing vice president for
a division of CBS. His father was a Big Band
musician and professional accordionist who
had an accordion studio in Vero Beach. Thomas
plays the bass guitar and organ. His skill on
the latter instrument came in handy when he
worked in sales for the company that makes
Lowrey organs.
Thomas moved with his family from New
York to Vero Beach in 1956, when he was 14. He
graduated from Vero Beach High School in 1960,
and from Florida State University four years
later. Then, after 21 years up north, he returned
to Vero Beach. “I had always wanted to be a
writer, so I came back to Florida, back to Vero
Beach. My family were all here.”
In Vero, he took a writing course in which
students critiqued each other’s work, and
remembers that his first published work was
an article about the widow of Cornelius Ryan,
author of the nonfiction World War II book, “A
Bridge Too Far.” That article, published in Palm
Beach Illustrated, was the first of dozens of
published articles, short stories and books that
carry his byline.“Right now I write personal
biographies commissioned by the family or by
the subject,” he said. “They end up getting a
bookstore-quality book.”
He’s currently writing about philanthropist
Richard Stark and Irene Redstone, 103-year-old
member of a pioneer local family who was one
of Miami’s first female lawyers.
Retirement is not for Thomas and he stays
connected to the community through an array
of civic activities. He chaired the Vero Beach Hibiscus
including Vero Heritage and Indian River
County’s Enterprise Zone Agency. He’s a past
80
industry executive and amateur Egyptologist,
is a Vero Beach luminary who
thinks globally. He’s traveled to 38
and interests. For more than two decades,
Festival and serves on numerous boards,
>>