About Tom Adrahtas

Tom Adrahtas grew up on the northwest side of Chicago, where the driving forces in his life were his love of reading and writing, hockey, politics, and the Motown sound. "From the first time I saw The Supremes on the Ed Sullivan show, I was enthralled," he said. From a young age, he became a ravenous collector of anything that was associated with Motown, and balanced that interest with a near obsessive love of hockey. "While my teammates were listening to Zeppelin and The Who, I was blasting Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye," he recalled.

Tom Adrahtas is one of the most successful coaches of amateur hockey in the United States. In his 26 year career, his teams have won 4 National Championships, 12 State titles, and many of the most prestigious tournaments in North America. Adrahtas, 51, recently recorded his 800th career victory. Over 150 of his players have gone on to collegiate careers, and 10 have played in the National Hockey League.

Taking after his idol, Chicago and St. Louis goaltending great Glenn Hall, Adrahtas became a hockey goalie, and earned NJCAA All-American honors for the College of DuPage where he led the team to a National Championship, and was the MVP of the National Tournament two consecutive years. He went on to graduate from North Central College, a small private institution in suburban Chicago, with honors and a degree in history.

 

Initially intending a career in teaching, his alma mater called with a coaching job offer. He quickly accepted, and began a career that has seen him work at virtually every level of the game. Along the way, the itch to write took hold, and he began writing for several hockey publications. That interest culminated when he wrote his first book, the only authorized biography of his childhood hero. Entitled Glenn Hall, The Man They Call Mr. Goalie, the book received excellent reviews from newspapers across Canada as well as Sports Illustrated.

 

Having completed one dream project, he turned his attention to writing about the other figure that captured his imagination as a child, Diana Ross. "I have seen every major Motown act in concert several times," said Adrahtas. "And after seeing Diana Ross, I was convinced that the negative images of her that had been propagated in previous books were grossly unfair. No one had bothered to check out the facts and set the record straight, and it was from that perspective that I undertook this work."

 

In "...A Lifetime To Get Here..." Diana Ross, THE American Dreamgirl, Adrahtas does take to task previous writers, and details the enormous influence Diana Ross's career has had on popular culture.

 

"I'm very satisfied that the reader will come away from this work with a proper appreciation for Miss Ross's unparalled career," he said. "I think it's very important that society recognizes that we need to give strong, ambitious women who are trailblazers equal respect for sharing the same traits we find admirable in strong, successful men."

 

Adrahtas is single and resides in the Chicago suburbs.