Thomas P. Kelley, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetThomas P. Kelley
Canadian historian
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Hastings, Ontario, Ontario, Canada
About Thomas P. Kelley
- Thomas Patrick Kelley Jr.
- (6 April 1905 – 14 February 1982) was a Canadian author notable for two books on the infamous Black Donnellys of Lucan, Ontario. Kelley was born in Hastings, Ontario, the son of Thomas Patrick Kelley Sr.
- (John Lawrence Monahon) and English-born Nellie Burgess.
- He journeyed with his father's medicine show until 1931, then boxed professionally.
- In 1937 he began his prolific pulp writing career, with a sale to Weird Tales.
- He wrote many stories for Uncanny Tales, a Canadian pulp magazine.
- He was the author of some two-dozen paperback books, largely of the true-crime variety.
- Kelley claimed to be ‘king of the Canadian pulp writers’ and ‘the fastest author in the East’.
- He died in Toronto. Kelley claimed that when he began a novel he had no idea how it would end, and had used 30 pseudonyms.He is most noted for his account of the Donnelly tragedy in 'The Black Donnellys'.
- He later followed with the sequel 'Vengeance of The Black Donnellys', a fictionalized account of the vengeful vendetta undertaken by Francis Donnelly, one of the surviving members of the family on those responsible for the massacre of his parents and siblings.
- . The Black Donnellys is reputed to be the Harlequin book with the most printings, with 15 printings of two editions between April 1954 and April 1968.
- Another source states 400,000 copies in 22 editions were sold.
- However successful the books were, they were denounced as grossly inaccurate.
- James Reaney, citing Alfred Scott Garrett, states that Kelley "totally misportrayed Mr.
- and Mrs.
- James Donnelly”, effectively murdering them again.
- The book was described as "sensationalistic and not very factual".Canada's False Prophet is purported to be a biography of Brother XII by his brother Herbert Emmerson Wilson.
- Citing John Robert Colombo, the tale was likely "concocted" by Kelley and Herbert Emerson (single “m”) Wilson.
- "Since this Wilson was born in Canada and Edward Arthur Wilson was born in England, there is hardly any likelihood there was a real connection between them." Thomas P.
- Kelley collaborated with the notorious safecracker Herbert Emerson Wilson to produce his unbelievable autobiography 'King of The Safecrackers', which was later titled, 'I Stole $16,000,000'.
- Interested in the story, Stanley Kubrick purchased the movie option, and after many years is now in development under the title 'God Fearing Man'.
Read more at Wikipedia