Samuel Thawley

Samuel Thawley is a gold medal-winning producer of olive oil based in Umbria, Italy. He has written three novels, one of which The Gospel Engine has won third place in two separate categories at the 2026 US Catholic Media Association Book Awards: for "first book" and for "science fiction".

All sides of his family have a long tradition of service—in both the Anglican Church and the Catholic. Samuel's grandfather was the dean of a cathedral. His godfather served as both Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See. David Deutsch, a verger at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., officiated at his wedding somewhere along Cleveland Avenue on a warm, sunny day in late December.

Samuel is married to Trina O’Hara, a painter of classical subjects, especially in the style of Caravaggio, and a photographer who melds past with present in new and interesting ways.

Samuel and Trina are avid ballroom and Latin dancers and taiko drumming enthusiasts. They attended the adult ballroom dance camp at Brigham Young University while it existed. They also participated in an intensive Japanese taiko drumming boot-camp in Nagano, Japan, led by Art Lee—the first and only non-Japanese person to be crowned Solo Grand Champion at the Tokyo International Wadaiko Contest.

Currently Samuel is working, in stages, on two biographies: one about a British political family, the other about an Australian author. When there is time he writes articles for both the political and cultural sections of the Spectator magazine in Australia.