Tom Brown
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I have 274 stories published in
24 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 425899 times
and 18 of my stories have been cherry picked.
453 of my 3,084 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 456 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!




The black dog
Posted on Mon, 27 Oct 2025
Mother of hang-overs, or ever had your head in the black dog's jaws and swear with every vow and curse never to touch the stuff again, only next night and soon forgotten and to just start again. That is the insanity of it.
Or find yourself...
Read full commentPosted in Some You Win ..
brilliant humour!
Posted on Thu, 23 Oct 2025
This must be story of the month or something! Must be hard, I mean you can stop drinking and stop smoking even stop cursing but you can't stop eating!
All the best, better to be fat and jolly than fat and miserable! Tom
Read full commentPosted in LEAVE!!
To see the Light
Posted on Tue, 21 Oct 2025
In the beginning was light, and the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it.
You don't need a flashlight to see the Sun!
Cheers Luigi! Tom
Read full commentPosted in Seeing the Light
a very expensive restaurant
Posted on Wed, 22 Oct 2025
It is a very expensive restaurant leave the kids at home for a night of romance!
See you! Tom
Read full commentPosted in Gentle illumination
The Ivory Tower
Posted on Thu, 04 Apr 2024
*
THE IVORY TOWER
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https://www.abctales.com/collection/ivory-tower
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Read full commentPosted in * Silver Spiral Stairway *
I found that too
Posted on Sun, 12 Oct 2025
I found that too Rhiannon, some song, poetry or hymns with such very beuatiful lovely words and without you really understanding as being too young, with insight actually understanding came only much later, with maturity. Think e.g. Of the...
Read full commentPosted in Perfect Home
pure poetry!
Posted on Tue, 07 Oct 2025
Most of us write poetry that is prose, you write prose that is poetry!
Beautiful! Tom
Read full commentPosted in The outline
heartbreaking
Posted on Wed, 01 Oct 2025
Terrible stories. Young women and mothers caught in a trap like this and it is just too, too common.
If you are going through hell, keep on going. I predict you will be getting a lot of comments on this story.
All the best. Tom
Read full commentPosted in Low
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 commentPosted in Memory of the sea
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 commentPosted in Scary Event
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