Introduction
Tom Dolby (born January 17, 1975) is an American filmmaker, novelist, essayist, journalist, and editor. He is the author of the best-selling novel The Trouble Boy (2004), The Sixth Form (2008), and the Secret Society books, including Secret Society (2009) and The Trust: A Secret Society Novel (2011). He was also the co-editor of Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys (2007).
Early life and education
Tom Dolby was born on January 17, 1975 in London, England. He grew up in San Francisco, California. He is the son of American businessman and engineer Ray Dolby and NARAL Pro-Choice America activist and fundraiser Dagmar Dolby. He graduated from The Hotchkiss School in 1994 and Yale University.
Career
Tom Dolby's debut novel, The Trouble Boy, concerns a young gay freelance writer in Manhattan. It was followed by the boarding school novel The Sixth Form (2008), set in an elite Massachusetts prep school. Dolby's first young adult novel, Secret Society, was published by Katherine Tegen Books at HarperCollins in October 2009. Its followup, The Trust: A Secret Society Novel, was released in February 2011.
He was also the co-editor, with the novelist Melissa de la Cruz, of the personal essay anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys: True Tales of Love, Lust, and Friendship Between Straight Women and Gay Men (2007), featuring works by Armistead Maupin, Ayelet Waldman, Andrew Solomon, Cindy Chupack, Simon Doonan, Gigi Levangie Grazer, David Ebershoff, and others. A reality television show inspired by the anthology, entitled Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys aired on the Sundance Channel in 2010 and 2011. Dolby and de la Cruz served as Consulting Producers.
In 2012, Dolby wrote and co-directed (with Tom Williams) the film Last Weekend, starring Patricia Clarkson, Zachary Booth, Joseph Cross, Rutina Wesley, Fran Kranz, Jayma Mays, Chris Mulkey, Judith Light, and Mary Kay Place. The film was produced by Mark Johnson and Mike S. Ryan.
Dolby's writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Out. A personal essay of his appears in the anthology From Boys to Men: Gay Men Write About Growing Up (2006). He was a 2005 and 2010 Library Laureate for the San Francisco Public Library, and was one of Instinct magazine’s Leading Men of 2004.
In 2013, Dolby began investing in and developing a slate of film and television projects through his production company, Water's End Productions.
Personal life
He currently lives in Los Angeles and Wainscott, New York. In June 2008, his engagement to Andrew Frist was announced. Dolby and Frist were legally married in Connecticut in April 2009, and celebrated their union with a wedding ceremony and reception for family and friends in Sonoma, California in September 2009. Dolby and Frist were involved in an appeal that raised over $150,000 towards efforts to promote the legalization of same-sex marriage in California. The couple are fathers to twin girls, Julia and Violet, born on October 19, 2010 via a surrogate.