Tom Brown
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I have 284 stories published in
25 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 503908 times
and 19 of my stories have been cherry picked.
451 of my 3,099 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 452 votes
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!




separating
Posted on Sat, 27 Jun 2026
Very interesting, life long mating I've never thought of it this way – the uncoupling – separation permanence. Sad, tragic.
Beautiful poetry! Tom
Read full commentPosted in Uncoupling
beautiful description
Posted on Sat, 27 Jun 2026
What a beautiful description of a night thunderstorm.
Fantastic! Tom
Read full commentPosted in In the middle of a hot night …
You are a born teacher
Posted on Thu, 25 Jun 2026
You are a born teacher and definitely a granny and a very Fun one!
Well done! Tom
Read full commentPosted in “Hide and Seek”
you are only improving
Posted on Mon, 15 Jun 2026
Your writing is only improving, as if you are finally realising that yes indeed, you are a good writer!
My best colour is Brown Of course! Brunette!
She is warm Love x Tom
Read full commentPosted in Green
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
Read full commentPosted in Spacecraft Earth!
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...
Read full commentPosted in Resplendent Rose
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...
Read full commentPosted in Roots
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...
Read full commentPosted in Woodsman And The Medicine Woman.
sense of wonder
Posted on Tue, 05 May 2026
Lovely piece, brings back a sense of wonder.
See you! Tom
Read full commentPosted in The World That Was
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...
Read full commentPosted in A word, and the stars are made!
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