Thomas Alexander

Waynesville, NC- Thomas Williamson Alexander, Jr, 74, prize-winning journalist, editor and all-around enthusiast, died April first of a rare neurological disorder. Tom grew up in remote Cataloochee Valley in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and on spectacular Fie Top Mountain where his parents created Cataloochee Ranch, now one of the Southeast's renowned resorts. He graduated from Asheville School and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, where he was editor of the humor magazine Tarnation. He went on to get his M.A. in English Literature at New York University. He joined the staff of LIFE magazine, where he met and married his wife Jane Duvall. He spent most of his career at FORTUNE Magazine, was promoted to the Board of Editors and won numerous awards for articles on topics ranging from high-energy physics to the implications of social engineering and the validity of sex differences between men and women. He took particular pleasure in some of his lighter articles such as grouse shooting in Scotland, the renaissance of the dirigible and the delights of a good cigar. As so often, he was ahead of the crowd when, in 1963, he wrote Project Apollo, an account of America's quest to send men to the moon. He began many of the chapters with scenes depicting, in prescient detail, what the first moon-bound astronauts would encounter. Longing to return to his roots, Tom built a vacation house just below Hemphill Bald on Cataloochee Ranch property. With Jane and his two children he cut trees from the property, aged and hewed the logs and erected a traditional two-story log cabin that looked as though it had been there for centuries. To ensure the cabin's authenticity, Tom learned to forge the door latches, hinges, candelabra and lamps. In 1993 FORTUNE published ``One Man's Tough Choices on Prostate Cancer,'' Tom's first-person account of the months following his diagnosis with the disease. His article, which made a convincing case for watchful waiting instead of aggressive treatment, was ahead of its time and stimulated spirited debate on the issue, particularly among physicians. Two years later Tom and Jane published Mountain Fever, the memoir of Tom's father, Mr. Tom. With 120 historical photographs, Mountain Fever chronicles Mr. Tom's love affair with the Appalachians, their verdant natural history and vanishing human culture. Recently Tom promoted the donation of Hemphill Bald and other portions of Cataloochee Ranch lands to a permanent conservation trust guaranteeing that they will never be developed but will remain in their pristine state for the benefit of the public. The terms of the trust are administered by the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy headquartered in Asheville. Tom Alexander is survived by his wife, Jane Duvall Alexander of Cataloochee; his son Ames Barksdale Alexander, his daughter-in-law Alison Hubler Alexander, grandsons Cole Hubler Alexander and Liam Hatfield Alexander of Charlotte, North Carolina; and by his daughter Amanda Graves Alexander of Mountain Home, North Carolina. He is also survived by sisters Judy Alexander Coker and Alice Alexander Aumen and her husband Tom. The Alexander family will hold a celebration for Tom at his home, Tom's Stand, on Saturday April 9 from 2 to 5 p.m. In lieu of flowers please send donations to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) at 34 Wall Street, Asheville, NC 28801.

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