Tom Swift Song

This song was written by John Arthur Almquist (1913-1982) for the Stratemeyer Syndicate in 1955.  Almquist lived in Montclair, New Jersey, and was associated with the Syndicate for a short period of time.  His first assignments included volumes in the Mel Martin series (v. 5-6), Hardy Boys (v. 35-36), and the Tom Swift Jr. series (v. 2-3).  He suggested the plot for "Tom Swift and His Atomic Mole" which was published as Tom Swift and His Atomic Earth Blaster.  He also wrote a song for the Dana Girls series at the same time.  Demo records for these exist as part of the Stratemeyer Syndicate Records Collection at NYPL.  They were probably played and sung by Almquist himself.  This recording (click on the sheet music image) was recorded for me by a series book fan.

Almquist left the Syndicate to work on his Ph.D.  He was an English professor at Upsala College in East Orange, New Jersey and had interests in sports and music.  He played piano in an orchestra and sold a recording called Piano Music for That Special Cocktail Party (Hanover, 1960).  The liner notes for this record, written by a friend, mentioned his work on the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Jr. series in violation of his nondisclosure agreement.  This caused some problems with the Syndicate, of course.

Special Thanks to Geoff Lapin, Ilana Nash, and Scott Logsdon.