Thomas Curley

Born in South Philadelphia in 1960 and raised in a staunch Irish-Catholic family, author, artist, and photographer Thomas Curley has been a scholar of religious studies for more than forty years. His primary areas of of study have been in comparative religion, pre-Christian Gnosticism, Biblical Apocrypha, the applied yoga philosophical traditions of Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Sanatana Dharma, and Buddhism, as well as contemporary representations of these ancient paths found in modern psychology, mindfulness, and other practical applications.

An Art historian with a degree from the University of Pennsylvania, his other interests include painting, travel, listening to good music, watching films of all genres, and chillin' out with family and dogs in his suburban Philadelphia home.

Curley is also the author of My Street Looks Like America - a compilation of his poetry and photography, and is currently editing a soon to be published memoir inspired by the life of Mark Twain. A period novel is also in the works, as well as an art world detective tale.

Originally published in 2000 and a revision in 2004, Masters Among Us is Curley's first book. The 2020 revised edition marks the first time the book has been available to the public in 14 years, and, in which, the author brings the original story full circle to a previously missing conclusion.