Thomas M. Kitts, Ph.D.
384 E. 3rd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11218
(718) 990-7371
Education
B.A. St. John’s University, NY English 1977
M.A. New York University English 1979
Ph.D. New York University English 1991
Doctoral dissertation: “The Theatrical Life of George Henry Boker,” supervised by
Professor Kenneth Silverman.
Professional Experience
St. John’s University, NY 1980 – present
Professor of English 2003 – present
Director, Liberal Studies Program 2011 – 2013
Chair, Division of English/Speech 2001 – 2013
Acting Chair, Division of English/Speech 2000 – 2001
Associate Professor of English 1997 – 2003
Assistant Professor of English 1991 – 1997
Editor, Alumni Quarterly 1991 – 1994
Director of Alumni Relations 1983 – 1991
Adjunct Instructor of English 1980 – 1991
Assistant Director, Alumni Relations 1980 – 1983
Rice High School, New York, NY 1979 – 1980
Teacher: English (juniors), Fine Arts (freshmen)
St. Peter’s College, Jersey City, NJ 1980 (spring semester)
Adjunct Assistant Professor of English
Corpus Christi School, New York, NY 1977 – 1979
Teacher: English, Reading, Science (grades 6-8)
New Earth Review, New York, NY 1979 – 1981
Assistant Editor, part time. NER was a small literary magazine.
Teaching Abroad
St. Francis Xavier College Summer 2013
Goa, India
Taught the tragedies of Shakespeare
Publications
Books
John Fogerty: An American Son. New York: Routledge. In progress. Scheduled date of
publication 2016.
Ray Davies: I’m Not Like Everybody Else. New York: Routledge, 2008.
The Theatrical Life of George Henry Boker. New York: Peter Lang, 1994.
Gypsies (a play). New York: Domestic Press, 1994.
Edited Books
Finding Fogerty: Interdisciplinary Readings of John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater
Revival. Ed. Kitts. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2013.
Literature and Work. New York: Pearson/ Longman, 2011.
Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks. Eds. Kitts and
Michael Kraus. Rumford, RI: Rock ’n’ Roll Research Press, 2002.
Journal Editorships
Rock Music Studies. Editor with Gary Burns. Under development. First issue: 2014.
Popular Music and Society. Editor with Gary Burns. 2008 – present.
The Mid-Atlantic Almanack, journal of the Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association,
2007 - 2010.
Guest Editor. Popular Music and Society. Special Issue on The Kinks. 29.2 (May 2006).
Popular Music and Society. Book Review Editor. 2006-2008.
Manuals
Instructor’s Manual to Accompany Literature: Craft & Voice. 3 vols. Eds. Nicholas
Delbanco and Alan Cheuse. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Published online and on CD-Rom.
Instructor’s Manual to Accompany The American Tradition in Literature (ninth ed.)
Ed. George Perkins and Barbara Perkins. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. Revised for tenth edition 2003, eleventh edition online 2006.
Instructor’s Manual to Accompany Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama
(fourth edition). Ed. Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998. Revised for fifth edition and published as Instructor’s Resource Guide to Accompany Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, 2002. Revised for fifth edition, 2006. Also published on CD-Rom.
Instructor’s Manual to Accompany Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama
Drama (compact edition). Ed. Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2000. Revised and published online as Instructor’s Manual to accompany Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama, 2004.
Articles
“Emersonian Individualism and the Quest for Wholeness in Pet Sounds.” God Only
Knows: Faith, Hope, Love and The Beach Boys. Ed. Jeff Sellars. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2015. (In press.)
“‘I’m a singer in a band who came out of high school and lucked on to this thing’: An
Interview with Mark Volman. Rock Music Studies 1.1 (2014): 77-91.
“Anti-Establishment Themes in American Songs.” Music in American Life: An
Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories That Shaped Our Culture. 4
vols. Ed. Jacqueline Edmondson. Santa Barbara, C: ABC-CLIO. 4 vols. 2013: 48-52.
“Anti-Flag.” Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars,
and Stories That Shaped Our Culture. 4 vols. Ed. Jacqueline Edmondson. Santa Barbara,CA: ABC-CLIO. Vol. 1. 2013. Sidebar. 48.
“New York Dolls.” Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars,
and Stories That Shaped Our Culture. 4 vols. Ed. Jacqueline Edmondson. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. 2013. Vol. 3. 805-06.
“New York Dolls: ‘Ridin’ right on the subway train.’” Please Allow Me to Introduce
Myself: The Debut Album. Ed. George Plasketes. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2013. 85-92.
“The 1980s Comeback of John Fogerty.” Finding Fogerty: Interdisciplinary Readings of
John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Ed. Kitts. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2012. 111-33.
Introduction. Finding Fogerty. xi-xvi.
“Tribute to Loretta Lorence.” Mid-Atlantic Gazette. Sept. 2011. Web. Rpt. in Mid-
Atlantic Almanack 20 (2011): 132.
“Obituary: Peter Quaife, 1943-2010.” Popular Music and Society 33.5 (Dec. 2010): 657-
61.
“Documenting, Creating, and Interpreting Moments of Definition: Monterey Pop,
Woodstock, and Gimme Shelter.” Journal of Popular Culture 42.4 (2009) 715-32.
“Anti-Flag: Political Punk and Activism – An Interview with Justin Sane.” Sound
Fabrics: Studies on the Intermedial and Institutional Dimensions of Popular Music. Martin Butler, Arvi Sepp, and Patrick A. Burger, eds. Trier: WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, 2009. 187-97.
“The Romantic Protest of Mid to Late 1960s Rock Music.” Sound Fabrics: Studies on the
Intermedial and Institutional Dimensions of Popular Music. 55-70.
“The Punk Rock Politics of Anti-Flag.” Mid-Atlantic Almanack 17 (2008): 157-64.
Introduction to Special Issue on the Kinks. Popular Music and Society 29.2 (May 2006):
141-43.
“Think Visual: The Kinks vs. the Music Industry.” Popular Music and Society 29.2 (May
2006): 241-54.
“Establishing a Sound and a Theme.” Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders
with The Kinks. Kitts and Michael Kraus, co-editors. Rumford, RI: Rock ‘n’ Roll Research Press, 2002: 26-37.
“‘… in the grand [and not so grand] tradition’: Film, Theatre, and the Triumph of 20th
Century Man.” Living on a Thin Line: Crossing Aesthetic Borders with The Kinks. Rumford, RI: Rock ‘n’ Roll Research Press, 2002: 131-42.
“Hold Off on That First Book.” Professor’s Forum. Writer’s Guidelines & News. 13.2
(Summer 2002): 9-11+.
“Let’s Start at the Beginning.” Professor’s Forum. Writer’s Guidelines & News. 13. 1
(Spring 2002): 9-11.
Introduction. The Writers’ Journal Guide to the Writing Life. Christopher L. Buono, ed.
Perham, MN: Val-Tech. 2000: 13-17.
“George Boker and Lawrence Barrett: Intersecting Theatrical Careers.” Nineteenth
Century (The Magazine of the Victorian Society of America). Ed. Sally Kinsey.
17.1 (Spring 1997): 27-34. Rpt. in SIRS Renaissance: Current Perspectives on the Arts & Sciences. CD-Rom. Boca Raton, Fl. Spring 1998.
“Unlikely Kinsmen: Holmes and Iago.” In Sherlock Holmes: Victorian Sleuth to Modern
Hero. Eds. Charles R. Putney, Sally Sugarman, and Joseph A. Cutshall. Landham, MD: Scarecrow Press 1996: 211-21.
“The Individual vs. the Cult Leader: Don Delillo’s Mao II, a Novel for the 1990s.”
Popular Culture Review 7.2 (Aug. 1996): 111-27.
“An Argument for Boker’s Francesca da Rimini.” American Drama 3.2 (1994): 53-70.
Reviews
Rev. of Gender, Branding, and the Modern Music Industry. By Kristin J. Lieb.
New York: Routledge, 2013. Rock Music Studies 1.2 (July 2014): 183-85.
Rev. of Transatlantic Roots Music: Folk, Blues, and National Identities. Eds. Jill Terry
and Neil A. Wynn. Jackson, MS: U of Mississippi P, 2012. Popular Music and
Society 37.1 (Feb. 2014): 101-03.
Rev. of Classic Harmonica Blues. Various Artists. CD. Barry Lee Pearson and Jeff Place,
compilers. Smithsonian Folkways. Popular Music and Society 36.4 (2013): 554-57.
Rev. of Old Man Below: The Dust Busters with John Cohen. CD. Smithsonian Folkways.
Popular Music and Society 36.3 (July 2013): 421-22.
Rev. of I’m Feeling the Blues Right Now: Blues Tourism and the Mississippi Delta. By
Stephen A. King. Jackson: U of Mississippi P, 2011. Popular Music and Society 36.2 (May 2013): 287-89.
Rev. of John Mayall. B.B. King’s. Feb. 2, 2013. The Daily Blues & Jazz.
<www.nybluesandjazz.org>.
Rev. of The Death Proclamation of Generation X. By Maxim W. Furek. Bloomington:
iUniverse, 2008. Popular Music and Society 34.5 (Dec. 2011): 695-98.
Rev. of Johnny Winter. B. B. King’s. Jan. 24, 2012. The Daily Blues & Jazz.
<www.nybluesandjazz.org>.
Rev. of Richie Furay. B. B. King’s. Nov. 11, 2011. The Daily Blues & Jazz.
<www.nybluesandjazz.org>.
Rev. of Blues Music in the Sixties: A Story in Black and White. By Ulrich Adelt. New
Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 2010. Popular Music and Society 34. 2 (May 2011) 259-61.
with Andre Cadet. Rev. of George Clinton & the P-Funk All-Stars. B. B. Kings. Dec. 3,
2010. The Daily Blues & Jazz. <www.nybluesandjazz.org>.
Rev. of Eric Burdon. B. B. Kings. Oct. 25, 2010. The Daily Blues & Jazz.
<www.nybluesandjazz.org>.
Rev. of I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir. By Mickey Leigh with Legs
McNeil. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009. Popular Music and Society 33.4 (Oct. 2010): 569-71.
Rev. of Voices of the Down and Out: The Dust Bowl Migration and the Great Depression
in the Songs of Woody Guthrie. By Martin Butler. Heidelberg, Germany: Universitätsverlag, 2007. Popular Music and Society 32.4 (Oct. 2009): 557-59.
Rev. of The Rock History Reader. Ed. By Theo Cateforis. New York: Routledge, 2007.
Popular Music and Society 32.4 (Oct. 2009): 564-66.
Rev. of Courageous Hearts (CD) and Interview with Towner Galaher. June 2009. The
Daily Blues & Jazz, the online publication of the The New York Blues & Jazz
Society, <www.nybluesandjazz.org>.
Rev. of How Britain Got the Blues. By Roberta Freund Schwartz. Aldershot, UK:
Ashgate, 2007. Popular Music and Society 32. 1 (Feb. 2009): 137-39.
Rev. of Bob Dylan: The Never Ending Star. By Lee Marshall. Cambridge, UK: Polity,
2007. Popular Music and Society 32. 1 (Feb. 2009): 130-33.
Rev. of The Prophet Singer: The Voice and Vision of Woody Guthrie. By Mark Allan
Jackson. Jackson: U of Mississippi, 2007. Popular Music and Society 31.5 (Dec. 2008): 705-08.
Rev. of Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band. By Joe Bonomo.
New York: Continuum, 2007. Popular Music and Society 31.3 (July 2008): 406-
08.
Rev. of The Words and Music of Bob Marley. By David Moskowitz. Westport, CT:
Praeger, 2007. Popular Music and Society 31.2 (May 2008): 293-95.
Rev. of Irish Catholic Boy. Seanchai & the Unity Squad. CD. Popular Music and
Society 31.1 (Feb. 2008): 128-30.
Rev. of Seguida III (CD) and Interview with the band. Oct. 2007. The Daily Blues and
Jazz.
Rev. of The Bill Monroe Reader. By Tom Ewing (Ed.). Chicago: U of Illinois P, 2006.
Popular Music and Society 30.4 (Oct. 2007): 565-68.
Rev. of Jefferson Starship, “4 Sets Covering 4 Decades.” B. B. Kings. Sept 8, 2007.
The Daily Blues & Jazz. <www.nybluesandjazz.org>.
Rev. of Performance and Popular Music: History, Place and Time. By Ian Inglis (Ed.)
Ashgate, Hampshire, UK, 2006. Popular Music and Society 30.3 (July 2007): 444-46.
Rev. of Panorama (CD) and Interview with Towner Galaher. June 2007. The Daily
Blues & Jazz,
Rev. of Music Scenes: Local, Translocal, and Virtual. By Andy Bennett & Richard
A. Peterson (Eds.). Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2004. Popular Music and Society
30.2 (May 2007): 295-98.
Rev. of Seduxion (CD), Sylvia Pilar. Jan. 2007. The Daily Blues & Jazz, the online
publication of the The New York Blues & Jazz Society, the online publication of The New York Blues & Jazz Society. <www.nybluesandjazz.org>.
Rev. of Magic Box (CD), Robi Zonca and his Band featuring Luther Kent. Dec. 2006.
The Daily Blues & Jazz, the online publication of The New York Blues &
Jazz Society.
Rev. of Nikki Armstrong at the River Bank, Cornwall-on-the-Hudson (performance
review). 8 Dec. 2006. The New York Blues & Jazz Society. <www.nybluesandjazz.org>
Rev. of 36 Years and a Wake-up: An American Returns to Vietnam by Carey Spearman.
The Gazette, the online newsletter of the Mid-Atlantic Popular / American Culture Association. April 2005. www.wcenter.ncc.edu/gazette/>.
“Fat Tuesday at Mexicali Blues Café” (performance review). February 28, 2006. The
Daily Blues & Jazz, the online publication of The New York Blues & Jazz Society.
“Buckwheat Zydeco at B.B. King’s (performance review). February 18, 2006. The Daily
Blues & Jazz, the online publication of The New York Blues & Jazz Society.
“Ray Davies at the Supper Club.” (performance review). November 28, 2005. The Daily
Blues & Jazz.
“Melvin Sparks at B.B. King’s.” (performance review). November 20, 2005. The Daily
Blues & Jazz.
“Dr. John at Au Bar.” (performance review). May 16, 2005. The Daily Blues & Jazz.
Rev. of Rebel Massive (CD), Seanchai & The Unity Squad. April 2005. The Gazette.
Rev. of Writing Creative Nonfiction: Fiction Techniques for Crafting Great Nonfiction
by Theodore A. Rees Cheney. Writer’s Guidelines & News. 13.1 (Spring 2002): 22-23.
“Making Sense of the Seventies.” Rev. of The Seventies Now by Stephen Paul Miller.
The Gazette. March 2000.
“What Happened to America’s Intellectual Optimism?” Rev. of Apocalypse Then:
American Intellectuals and the Vietnam War, 1954 –1975 by Robert Tomes. in The Gazette. Dec. 1999 / Jan. 2000.
“The Art of Rock & Roll.” Rev. of Rocking My Life Away: Writing about Music and
Other Matters by Anthony DeCurtis. The Gazette. Feb. 1999.
Contributions to Texts/Anthologies
Provided motivating links and directions to The Art of Literature CD-Rom. Pearson
Prentice Hall. 2005.
Questions following the fiction selections in Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and
Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 5th 6th editions. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002, 2007.
Questions following the fiction selections in Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry,
Poetry, and Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
“Author Biographies.” The Hudson Book of Poetry: 150 Poems Worth Reading. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. pp. 151-181.
“10 Questions Worth Asking about Fiction.” The Hudson Book of Fiction: 30 Stories
Worth Reading. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002. p. 329.
Films
Special Consultant. Do It Again. A Robert Patton-Spruill Film. Directed by Robert
Patton Spruill; written and starring Geoff Edgers. 2009.
Commentator. TC Boyle: The Art of the Story. Producers: Tom Knoff and Harper College
Director, Greg Herriges. 2008.
Commentator. The Kinks: Two for the Road. Directors, Lloyd Jansen and Rob Peirson.
Lloyd and Rob Productions. 2007.
CD-Roms
Ariel: A Reader’s Interactive Exploration of American Literature. CD-Rom to