David Sanders Thomson

David Sanders Thomson, son of George F. Thomson and Ruth Sanders Thomson of Greenwich, Connecticut, died on April 8th of respiratory failure.. He was 89 years old. Mr. Thomson graduated from Deerfield Academy, Harvard University and completed two Masters degrees from Columbia University. He also accomplished PhD work at Harvard. He taught English Literature at Williams College, Harvard, and Columbia before embarking on a career in publishing and for the next 30 years he was a writer and editor for Time-Life Books.

Among Mr. Thomson’s works at Time Life Books were How We Learn, which won the a prize from the American Psychological Association for the best book published for a lay audience on a psychological subject, A History of the US Air Force in World War II, an introduction to linguistics called Language, and a brief biography of Harry S Truman. He was an expert on the Civil War and World War II as well as on classic jazz and wrote extensively on the subject.

Mr. Thomson was an avid golfer and a long time member of Mount Vernon Country Club.

He is survived by three children from his first marriage that ended in divorce: Rebecca Sanders Thomson, David I. C. Thomson, Alexandra Thomson Tron, and four grandchildren, Zoe, Ted, Angelina, and Sarah-Jane. He is also survived by his long –time and devoted wife , Jo Thomson, and their daughter Liza Thomson Cohen.

A Memorial service will be held at the Mount Vernon Country Club on Saturday, April 18, 2015 from 11:00am - 1:30pm.

In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in the name of David Thomson to Chaplaincy: INOVA Mt. Vernon Foundation, 8110 Gatehouse Road, Suite 200 East, Falls Church, VA 22042.