Tom Huey

Thomas Edward Huey (born May 6, 1950 in Alabama; died February 29, 2024) was a poet, playwright, and college professor.

Huey was the sole child of Judge Thomas Huey Jr and the former Elizabeth Sessions. He attended Birmingham University School and competed in track and field events there and at the University of Alabama. He went on to complete a master of arts at Hollins University in Virginia, and a master of fine arts as a Randall Jarrell Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.

He married fellow student Mary Faran, who was a member of the ACT Company. That relationship led to his first stage plays. He began teaching at Guilford College in Greensboro in 1979. In 1986 he was awarded a $17,500 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1989 he joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. He has also served as "playwright in residence" at Guildford and at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. His play "The Man in the Bright Nightgown", whose title is drawn from W. C. Fields' dying words, was revived in Greensboro in 2019 and adapted as a short film by Mike and Brenda Lilly in 2021.

Huey and his second wife, Wanda, were married in 1984 and had two daughters; Madeline and Olivia. Huey died in an automobile accident in 2024

Publications

• Huey, Tom (1975) This Life: A Salutation. (poems) Thorp Springs Press
• Huey, Tom (1979) Forcehymn (poems), Carolina Wren Press
• Huey, Tom (1979) "The Whitening of the Godwins and the Starrs"
• Huey, Tom (1980) "Wild Air" (premiered at Circle Theater, Los Angeles, California)
• Huey, Tom (1985) "Through Line" (premiered at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia)
• Huey, Tom (1985) "High Standards" (premiered at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia)
• Huey, Tom (1986) "Magic City" (premiered in Los Angeles, California)
• Huey, Tom (1986) "Tales of Edgar Allan Poe" (premiered 1986 at Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia)
• Huey, Tom (1989) "The Staircase Group" (staged reading at Circle Repertory Company, New York City), revised as "Mortal Acts" (1990)
• Huey, Tom (1990) "The Man in the Bright Nightgown" (premiered 1990 at Venice Beach, California)
• Huey, Tom (1993) "Beauty and the Beast" (premiered 1993 at Playmakers Repertory in Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
• Huey, Tom (2011) Misha, Me, and Wittgenstein. Xlibris. ISBN 9781462881079

References

• Jones, Abe D. Jr (June 20, 1992) "Tom Huey Knows How to Play on Emotions." Greensboro News & Record
• Peiken, Matt (February 4, 2021) "From Stage To Screen, Asheville Couple Investing To Keep Local Theater Alive." Blue Ridge Public Radio
• "Tom Huey" obituary (March 6, 2024) Greensboro News & Record