BiographyThomas Edward Trisko (1945-) was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to parents of German-American ancestry, and grew up in Hopkins and Saint Cloud Minnesota. He graduated with honors from Saint John's University in Economics and received a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and pre-doctoral fellowship to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. in Government. His career has included positions as Corporate Economist, Government Affairs Director, Finance Director, Vice President-Finance, and Chief Financial Officer for companies and non-profit organizations such as Dayton Hudson Corporation (now Target), Medtronic, The Home Insurance Company, Minnesota Multiple Sclerosis Society, and The Bridge for Runaway Youth.Tom lives in the Chain-of-Lakes Area of southwest Minneapolis with his partner, John Rittman (and their deceased Basset Hound, Arthur). They have been a couple since 1973. Tom and John have been active in the GLBT civil rights movement since the Sixties. They have worked with their friends and the broader GLBT community to build up the Minnesota community's power and institutions from scratch. There were many setbacks such as the defeat of the St. Paul Gay Human Rights Ordinance in 1978 and the AIDS epidemic in the Eighties, but there were successes like the Minnesota Gay Rights Law in 1993. National GLBT leaders came out of these efforts such as Steve Endean, founder of HRC, NGTF, and GRNL; and the first out MN Senate President, Alan Spear. Most recently Tom and John were one of three couples who sued the State of Minnesota for the right to marry in 2008. When Minnesota voters defeated an anti-marriage amendment in 2012 and the Legislature approved same-sex marriage in 2013, they happily were able to withdraw their "Marry Me Minnesota" suit. They were married at the Episcopal Cathedral Church of Saint Mark in the gay Loring Park neighborhood of Minneapolis in August, 2013.Tom and John both have unusual senses of humor which come through in the banter between Dave and Chris in Tom's novels. While his books are in the traditional murder mystery genre, Tom uses them to illustrate historical and contemporary lives of modern American gay men as they were and are really lived.His first book, "Murder at SJU," was developing in the back of his mind since 1973 and has been a joy to write. It portrays the multi-faceted emotional life and relationships of David White, a 21st Century gay man who has participated in and lived through the gay rights and AIDS struggles of recent decades. David is thrown into this struggle earlier than most when his college years lover, Mark Swan, is murdered on campus in 1968. Forty years later David is determined to at last find out who committed the outrage of murdering Mark and wrecking that emotional facet of David's life. The answer proves to be someone from Dave's past who is in a more powerful and dangerous position than Dave and his friends ever imagined."Murder in the Crystal Court" has Dave deeply involved in the same-sex marriage referendum campaign in 2012 as he tries to solve a murder in the corporate world of 1974. The two are related since the anti-marriage forces are planning to resurrect unproven accusations against a prominent gay attorney in their TV ads and claim that gay people are more crime prone than straight people."Murder in Paradise" A Dave White mystery set in the gay male resorts of Palm Springs, California. Dave gets drawn into investigating the murder of a doctor and the disappearance of a gay undertaker and mayor of Rancho Mirage when Dave's husband, Chris Thorson becomes the main suspect of homophobic detective Jack Faraday. When his inquiries land Dave in Desert Hospital, Chris becomes his "Dr. Watson" as the two of them zero in on two unusual killers who murder for deeply emotional and unusual motives.NOW AVAILABLE! "Cathedral Murder" recounts Dave's efforts to solve three murders at St. Matthew's Episcopal Cathedral while having to navigate the hostility of the hunky young police inspector assigned to the case as well as the internal politics of the Church. Along the way, Dave meets some new gay men who find him sexually attractive in addition to his partner/husband of 46 years, Chris Thorson. Dave also uncovers the emotional network of past and present gay relationships within the Church, as well as the hostility of a few members within and outside that community who make his assignment difficult after shortening the lives of their victims.Tom enjoys reading his readers' reviews of his books and also their Emails. He can be contacted at tomtrisko@gmail.com.Read more about this authorRead less about this author