The Writer & Performer
Tom Ramsey
Tom Ramsey studied Film and Theatre at the University of Southern Mississippi before careers spanning investment banking, a cigar factory, lobbying, and working as a fine-dining chef and television personality. After surviving 47 days in a COVID ICU, he pivoted to focus on his passions. Now he writes, boxes, fences, entertains, and drives race cars. His work has appeared in Okra Magazine, The Experiment, and Big Muddy Journal. His short story "Blue Jack" was recently acquired by Gray's Sporting Journal. He is currently co-writing a children's picture book with Frances Wyle, illustrated by Anne Scott Barrett.
The American Hotel
Literary fiction, 86,400 words. Currently seeking representation.The wayward son of a Mississippi law dynasty reinvents himself in a crumbling bohemian hotel in downtown Hattiesburg, building a puzzle box love life and Hollywood ambitions, until it all collapses when he knocks up a debutante. Set in the late 1980s, the last era when a young man could vanish into a city and answer only to the people in the room.
Comparisons have been drawn to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Sing, Unburied, Sing, and The Liars' Club. Indebted to Wolfe's expansiveness and Cheever's economy.
Three Facts About Ducks*
Co-written with Frances Wyle. Illustrated by Anne Scott Barrett. In progress. *All of which are wrong."Blue Jack" Forthcoming
Gray's Sporting Journal, Big Game Edition
A multi-perspective short story set in the Mississippi Delta, 1953.
"New Love and Near Death (In the Time of COVID)"
The Experiment, Jason Stanford's Substack, 2021
Forty-seven days in a COVID ICU, a daughter discovered, and the particular clarity that arrives when you nearly don't survive.
"My Mother Killed Princess Diana"
Big Muddy Journal, Southeast Missouri State University
A Southern personal essay about cheese soup, the Blonde Brigade, and the specific social machinery of a Mississippi Delta family the night Princess Diana died.
"Defending Southern Food"
Okra Magazine, Issue 1, 2017
A profile of Atlanta chef Kevin Gillespie on the philosophy, diversity, and defense of Southern cooking.
"One of a Kind: A Memorial to the Coon Dog"
Okra Magazine, Issue 4, 2018
The story of the Key Underwood Coon Dog Cemetery and the 1977 Mississippi pilgrimage that brought Bill Ramsey, Tom Golding, and Ol' Red there.
"Moon Shadow"
Okra Magazine, Issue 4, 2018
Four men, a 1973 Starcraft Starcruiser, and a broken wheel bearing on the way to the Great American Eclipse.
On Screen
In addition to appearing on Season 3 of ABC's The Taste and multiple seasons and episodes of Guy's Grocery Games, Tom has recently returned to acting in scripted feature and short films. A new adaptation of Othello (set in 1870 Louisiana), Crescent, and Ode to a Privateer are all currently in post production.
Stage, screen, and television. View on IMDB →
On Reinvention
The Ship of Theseus asks whether a ship that has had every plank replaced remains the same ship. Tom Ramsey has replaced every plank: investment banker, cigar factory owner, lobbyist, fine dining chef, food television personality, novelist, racer. He survived 47 days in a COVID ICU to ask the question from the other side.
He delivers an address on reinvention that is equal parts philosophy, memoir, and provocation. A genuine reckoning with identity, change, and what remains when none of the original parts are left.
Past engagements include the USA Today Storytellers Series, university audiences, and private conferences. Available for speaking engagements. Contact to inquire.