Biographical Note

     Thomas Gibbons Aylesworth (11), born November 5, 1927, Valparaiso, Indiana, son of Carroll Wells Aylesworth (10), Clarence Philip (9), John (8), Ira (7), Philip (6), John (5), Philip (4), Philip (3), Arthur (2), Arthur (1), and  Margaret Ruth Gibbons. He attended public schools in Chicago and Joliet, Illinois, and Rochester, Indiana, and served with the U.S. army in Japan in 1946-47. On Dec.13, 1948 he married Virginia L. Boelter. They adopted two children: Carol Jean and Thomas Paul. 
     He received a B.A. degree in zoology from Indiana University in 1950. He was a high school teacher in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. In 1953 he received  his M.S. at Indiana University . While working at Michigan State University in 1959 as an assistant professor of biology and at the same time attending Ohio State University,  he then completed his Ph.D. 
     Thomas in 1962 started his career of writing non-fiction for young readers at the time he moved his family to Middletown, Connecticut, to become senior editor of "Current Science," a junior high school science periodical of Wesleyan University. In 1965 he became a senior editor for Doubleday  and moved to Stamford, Connecticut.  Thomas wrote science books for children in his free time. He had great success in 1968 with "This Vital Air, This Vital Water", a book on environmental pollution later translated into seven languages. Thomas, in 1971, started writing juvenile books on astrology and witchcraft with "Servants of the Devil", a book on witches. Others followed with titles on vampires, werewolves, mythological beasts, and paranormal phenomena. He also was a ghostwriter for young readers' autobiographies. With his wife, Virginia, he co-authored a series of seventeen travel books about sections of the United States and it's various island possessions.
     In 1980, he became editor-in-chief of Bison Books, in Greenwich, Connecticut.  In 1986 he semi retired and in 1993 published his final work and died of a heart attack in Stamford, Connecticut, on July 13, 1995.

Sources:
"The Aylesworth Family of Porter County, ID". 1948 & 1984. Published by the family.
"Something About the Author" Gale Research, Detroit:  1973. 
"Something About the Author Autobiography Series", Gale Research, Detroit, 1994. 
"Something About the Author", Gale Research, Detroit 1997

Here is a list of some of his titles, their publication companies and dates of release. Some of his works were republished after his death and the original dates were not found.
     * these books were co-authored by his wife, Virginia L. Aylesworth

This Vital Air, This Vital Water, Rand McNally, 1968 & (Revised) 1973
Teaching for Thinking, Doubleday, 1969
Servants of the Devil, Addison-Wesley, 1970
Werewolves and Other Monsters, Addison-Wesley, 1971
Monsters from the Movies, HarperCollins Children's Books, 01/01/72
Vampires and Other Ghosts, Addison-Wesley, 1972
Astrology and Foretelling the Future, Franklin Watts, 1973
Movie Monsters, HarperCollins Children's Books,  01/01/75
Cars, Boats, Trains & Planes of Today & Tomorrow, Walker, 1975
Esp, Franklin Watts, 1975
The World of Microbes, Franklin Watts, 1975
Who's Out There, McGraw-Hill, 1975
The Search for Life, Rand McNally, 1975
Palmistry, Franklin Watts, 1976
Graphology: A guide to Handwriting Analysis, Franklin Watts, 1976
Science at the Ball Game, Walker, 1977
The Story of Vampires, McGraw-Hill, 1977
The Story of Werewolves, McGraw-Hill, 1978
The Story of Witches, McGraw-Hill, 1979
Geological Disasters: Earthquakes & Volcanoes, Franklin Watts, 1979
Storm Alert: Understanding Weather Disasters, Julian Messner, 1980
The Story of Dragons & Other Monsters, McGraw-Hill, 1980
Animal Superstitions, McGraw-Hill, 1981
Science Looks at Mysterious Monsters, Julian Messner, 1982
The Mount St. Helens Disaster, Franklin Watts, 1983, & Grolier Education Assoc. 1983
History of the Movie Musical, Bison, 1984
Broadway & Hollywood, Bison Books, 1985 & Gallery Books, Nov. 1985
Indiana, Bison Books, 1985
The South, Chelsea House, 1987 *
The West, Chelsea House, 1987 *
Western Great Lakes, Chelsea House,  1987 &  02/01/95 *
Mid Atlantic, Chelsea House, 1988 *
South Central, Chelsea House, 1988 *
Southeast, Chelsea House, 1988 & 05/01/95 *
Southwest, Chelsea House, 1988 & 05/01/95 *
Upper Atlantic, Chelsea House,  1988 & 05/01/95 *
Territories and Possessions, (Islands, etc.), Chelsea House, 1988, 1992, June 1995
Territories and Possessions: Lets Discover the States, Chelsea House, 1990 *
Eastern Great Lakes, Chelsea House,  04/01/90 *
Atlantic, Chelsea House, 1990 *
Movie Monsters, HarperCollins Children's Books,  06/01/90
Chicago, Smithmark, Jan. 1991
Baseballs Great Dynasties, Gallery Books, 1991
Best of Warner Bros., Book Sales Inc.,  10/01/93
Eastern Great Lakes, Chelsea House,  02/01/95
Lower Atlantic, Chelsea House,  04/01/95
Southern New England, Chelsea House,  05/01/95 *
Pacific, Chelsea House,  05/01/95
Northwest, Chelsea House,  05/01/95 *
Northern New England, Chelsea House, 05/01/95 *
Great Plains, Chelsea House,  05/01/95 *
Kids' World Almanac of Baseball, World Almanac Books,  02/01/96
Best of Warner Bros., Diane Publishing Co.,  06/01/00