Thomas Hal Phillips

Thomas Hal Phillips was born on October 11, 1922, on an old farm near Corinth, Mississippi, to W. T. Phillips and Ollie Fare Phillips.  He was one of six children (Lloyd 370) and attended Alcorn Agricultural High School near the town of Corinth or  Kossuth, where he lives today.  There he wrote for the school paper, played football, and argued for the debate team. After his graduation from high school, he went to Mississippi State College and majored in social science.  He graduated with a B. S. degree  from Mississippi State College in Starkville, Mississippi, in 1943 and served with the United States Navy as a lieutenant (junior grade . during the Second World War.  After leaving the military, he studied creative writing at the University of Alabama, receiving an M. A. in 1948 (Lloyd 371).