Tom Henighan has produced an interesting body of work on the margins of the science-fiction genre and has also made valuable contributions to it as a teacher and critic. American-born, but a Canadian resident since 1965, Henighan has made important interventions in the culture of his adopted home as a teacher, writer, and consultant, and he has become a prominent figure in the debates over Canadian culture that have taken place in the late twentieth century.

The oldest of five children, Thomas Joseph Henighan was born on 15 October 1934 in New York City, the son of Thomas Augustine Henighan (a professional soccer player and sports writer) and Helen Patricia (Smith) Henighan, both of whom were born in Scotland. He grew up in Manhattan and the Bronx, and then in the suburbs of Westchester County, New Rochelle, and Mount Vernon, graduating from Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, in...