Thomas J. Baskind was born on February 21, 1947, in Astoria, Queens to his parents Angela and Haskell. Tom graduated from St. Francis Prep in 1964 and then went to Fordham University. At Fordham University, Thomas was the recipient of the New York Daily News 18th & 19th Annual Joseph Medill Patterson scholarships in Journalism as he won two consecutive years in a row. Tom Baskind went on to earn a Masters Degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (School of Journalism). His graduate thesis was titled: "Conflict as a Simplifying Reporting Technique: a question of press responsibility" https://catalog.lib.unc.edu/catalog/UNCb2397228 Tom was a well-respected member of Sigma Delta Chi and the Association for Education in Journalism. Thomas had been a guest lecturer at Fordham University Communications Department as he had a successful and varied career. Thomas had maintained positions at Field and Stream Magazine as the Editor of Lighting Design & Application for many yea