Tom Brown

Primary tabs

I have 273 stories published in 24 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 393048 times and 18 of my stories have been cherry picked.
434 of my 3,022 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 437 votes

Close reader
Tom Brown's picture
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).
,

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.
,

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.
,

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.
,

These are my stories!

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

 

 

My stories

Checkmate!

Super-Sneaker had won the prize for the best school attendance with no absence at all for the twelve school years, at the opening when it was...

The Fire Brigade

Unsung Heroes Firemen are of great courage, and of all emergency and dangerous professions fire fighting is noblest. They save lives while the others...

Dear Dudes

Dear Dude, other Uncle Dude and other Aunty Dude. As you know our mother was deceased in 2019 and up until now 2025, we have yet not received not any...

Sleeping Late

Oh how I hate to get up in the morning, oh how I love to remain in bed, the hardest thing of all is to hear the bugler call, You got'to get up, you...

Admissions Ward

do you drink? bit early in the morning just a quick double oh. two sugar one milk for me thanks what does this mean? … people in grass houses must...

Pages

434 of my comments have received 437 Great Feedback votes

1 Vote

Jacaranda City

Posted on Wed, 01 Oct 2025

In October the whole city Pretoria becomes the famous Purple Spectacle, wth the thousands of Jacaranda trees. Spring and Summer! Had our first rains just the other day.

Good poem Rob! Liked the "No need for a radio" idea!

All the...

Read full comment

Posted in Memory of the sea

1 Vote

very scary

Posted on Thu, 25 Sep 2025

Must have been very scary I had something similar Jenny, as I slept a heavy book case fell smashing down I thought it was thunder I thought lightning hit the house, checked on my mother she was fast asleep. The book case was up above the door it...

Read full comment

Posted in Scary Event

1 Vote

Mystery and suspence!

Posted on Sat, 20 Sep 2025

Mystery and suspence! The artist was very determined to recover his painting, like the widow with her lost penny. And then, why?

Enjoyed! Tom

Read full comment

Posted in How your heart pounds inside me

1 Vote

Copyrights on Artificial Intelligence

Posted on Wed, 10 Sep 2025

I still need to know how you (ABC editor) would know if I did not find something on AI, or if I did? Isn't AI public domain? Are there copyrights? Honestly I am confused.

Tom Brown

Read full comment

Posted in Safe Home

1 Vote

snnoopy

Posted on Tue, 16 Sep 2025

Sometimes kids discover things better left alone, curiousity and the cat.

To sin is human but it feels divine.

Tomm

Read full comment

Posted in Appropriate!

1 Vote

Good story looks

Posted on Thu, 11 Sep 2025

Good story looks like poetry Jenny! One morning once I lent my moms car whithout permission to get cigarettes at the garage when I got back home the police were waiting she reported the car stolen. 5 minutes max.

Can you believe it? It's...

Read full comment

Posted in Letter Going Beyond The Grave

1 Vote

Beautiful!

Posted on Mon, 15 Sep 2025

Beautiful! Tom

Read full comment

Posted in September sky

1 Vote

Garden of verses

Posted on Sat, 14 Jun 2025

See "A Child's Garden of Verses" RL Stevenson!

All the best Luigi! Tom

 

Read full comment

Posted in When the Cat is Away

1 Vote

I am still able

Posted on Fri, 12 Sep 2025

I am still able to solve the cube consistently under 2 minutes, great party trick and my best ever was under a minute. I am very fast. I believe it is physically impossible to do it say in 30 seconds. It should be possible to calculate...

Read full comment

Posted in The Boy with the Rubik’s Cube

1 Vote

September?

Posted on Thu, 11 Sep 2025

A lovely story beautifully told, and very conciderate not to want to make other people unhappy. I do find it strange though writing about Easter at this time of year, but then again, why not?

Keep well! Tom

Read full comment

Posted in The Tiny Easter Teddy

Pages