Tom Brown

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I have 282 stories published in 25 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 480887 times and 19 of my stories have been cherry picked.
447 of my 3,078 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 448 votes

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Tom Brown

Born South-African, I went to a dual medium primary school and Afrikaans high school, NG Church mostly and sunday school Methodist. At school achieved top positions in science and mathematics olympiads, after as well completing two years of engineering studies with very good results but I did not graduate, I had to stop due to mental health problems.

Graduating under WK Bartoszek at Unisa, MSc (1997) and Pretoria University, Niko Sauer PhD (2006), formal interests were to be in abstract analysis and broadly in applied mathematics. All of my qualifications were with honours.

I had permanent teaching positions at Unisa and at Wits, however since not having been academically active, and as such absent from formal academic research for very long now, years. Advanced study and research was in Markov operators and stochastic processes; vector valued Laplace transforms applied to semigroups and families of evolution equations (Empathies).
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Unfortunately I have had a history of medical treatment for psychiatric illness with diagnosis of a bipolar mood disorder.

It was very fortunate in that my condition responded very well to medicine it helps if you cooperate and comply, if not, you don't have much of a chance. Also I am totally abstinent from alcohol and other mood altering substances for great many years, it did not accord with my constitution at all. As a chain smoker I also managed to kick the habit, more than a decade smoke-free now, by the Grace of God.

I have always been able to function completely normal and independently in society my isolation was not because of my own doing it was due to circumstances, and has just been getting stricter I seem to have almost no contact outside, save only for AbcTales. My saving grace.

I am  totally isolated and financially barely getting by. 

Although I am still studying mathematics and applications, more popular accessible kind of work, while interested and looking forward to hopefully be active in research or industry again.

God is in the details of the details. God is in the timing of the timing.
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Apart from studies in the natural sciences I am interested in languages and literature in general as well as religion. In high school I majored in German also, and Biology, in the meanwhile I have taught myself French, well enough to read (with a bit of difficulty).

Lately I have been writing more popular general interest essays and also trying for a bit of balance with mathematics and while keeping things understandable for most people.

Thus not involved at all with any social media, and having time for writing, leisure, watching movies, reading fiction, classics mostly, poetry and  music. I miss my friends, and would really love getting outdoors and in nature more.
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Favourite authors are Jules Verne, HG Wells and Jack London, Shakespeare and poets William Blake and Dylan Thomas. I like adventure, science fiction and fantasy movies my all time greatest are the Narnia stories and the Lord of the Rings.

The meal best enjoyed is a breakfast of bacon eggs on toast fried chips with fresh orange juice, and for supper an ox-tail stew. I like eating out romantic. For recreation nature hikes, camping and fishing, listening to good music and reading, classics mostly, and good movies. I love dogs my best one was a Maltese poodle Freddy.

I love rain and lightning thunderstorms and rainbows. As well as writing and publishing here on AbcTales.
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These are my stories!

Keep your feet on the ground and reach for the Stars!

 

 

My stories

Properties of Cantor's Ternary Set

First I describe two different constructions for Cantor's Set, then investigate some of its very special properties. It is not hard to prove these...

Splinters uit die Vuur

Ancient Folklore of the San People of the Namib and Kalahari Original Afrikaans and German from oral Khoisan tradition Temporary withheld due to...

Language Sex and Violence

But what do you people do all day? We f't , we f'k , mostly we f't for a f'k My, but you Americans are so hostile! Missionary style on top sideways...
Cherry

Tough Chews & Teeth Tales

Say little but say it well; the mouth that speaks not is sweet to hear A soft answer turns away anger; a shut mouth is a whole mouth Drunkenness and...

Empathy

Having been accused of reckless driving, once we were working the whole morning and getting tired, Prof Sauer said call it a day for lunch I said “...

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447 of my comments have received 448 Great Feedback votes

1 Vote

I like your poem!

Posted on Thu, 11 Jun 2026

I like your poem a lot Rhiannon, to me it proves you are still open-minded, indeed, and bound by logic! Adventurous and playful, imaginative.

At (y/our) age hey?

Very Good! Tom

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Posted in Spacecraft Earth!

1 Vote

Once I saw a rose

Posted on Fri, 05 Jun 2026

Once I saw a rose

Once I saw a rose of absolutely stunning beauty Rhiannon, I found it in my room the night before my grand-dad (oupa) passed on, in a glass, I don't know how it got there, and as in your poem the next night it was faded...

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Posted in Resplendent Rose

1 Vote

Unbelievable!

Posted on Tue, 26 May 2026

Planting trees by the hundreds of thousands and by the million is probably our best defence against global warming, and how pleasant!

Machines of nature capturing and removing CO2 back into into carbon (fuels) and free oxygen gas, the...

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Posted in Roots

1 Vote

classical style

Posted on Thu, 07 Aug 2025

Brilliant, classical style Jenny! You've blown new life into this! The right thing at the right time?

In South Africa we are much more liberal and humane, services of traditional healers, witchdoctors (sangoma's) can be covered by medical...

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Posted in Woodsman And The Medicine Woman.

1 Vote

sense of wonder

Posted on Tue, 05 May 2026

Lovely piece, brings back a sense of wonder.

See you! Tom

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Posted in The World That Was

1 Vote

Beautiful!

Posted on Sun, 03 May 2026

Beautiful story! It sounds very much like when Aslan founded the Land of Narnia in the Chronicles!

The Gospel of John begins with,

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God".

All the best...

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Posted in A word, and the stars are made!

1 Vote

yes

Posted on Fri, 20 Mar 2026

Thanks Rhiannon, yes, that was what I meant with a guttural "g", pronounced as in "loch" but with a bit more force.

Guttural means "formed in the throat".

Keep well!

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Posted in A ‘little roof’, ^, makes all the difference!

1 Vote

sometimes we speak

Posted on Tue, 03 Mar 2026

Indeed, sometimes we speak without thinking, very hurtful words foolish or malice unkind or dirty, words undone once spoken, but also there are also words healing and kind, beautiful and considerate of comfort and love.

The tongue is a...

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Posted in The Ivory Wall - (Teeth tales*)

1 Vote

Live and Let Live!

Posted on Wed, 25 Feb 2026

These are not as far-fetched as it sounds I have heard similar (some true, in fact) stories.

We are not one to judge! Live and Let Live! Tom

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Posted in 5. Secondhand Prose

1 Vote

As they say

Posted on Wed, 11 Feb 2026

As they say, war brings out the worst and best in men. Good story Rhiannon, might as well be true.

See you! Tom

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Posted in Just imagine …

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