Tom was in the objective order of things a true Catholic giant of the late 20th and early 21st Century, albeit one seemingly almost forgotten in his later years as he quietly lay on his "bed of thorns." He also led a perhaps not surprisingly modest, pious, and ascetical life. Let us pray that he makes it into heaven without much delay, if any. God only knows how many countless souls his work helped so magnificently in arriving at their heavenly destination and still helps to this day. For my part, I can hardly begin to say how much I have really benefited from TAN books, the 4 volume Mystical City of God to name just one.
Not to mention my parents MET at TAN Books & Publishers. So yeah -- I owe Tom Nelson a huge debt of gratitude.Thank you for sharing that; he sounds like a very special man. Our Library is crammed with his books and together with Michael Davies, I owe him a lot to my conversion. If it was TAN publication you could guarantee Orthodoxy and it was a safe place to go. We are very sorry for your loss and will remember him in our family rosary. May he rest in peace.
[size=+3]A[/size][size=+2]BOUT[/size] [size=+3]T[/size][size=+2]AN[/size] [size=+3]B[/size][size=+2]OOKS[/size] [size=+2]AND[/size] [size=+3]P[/size][size=+2]UBLISHERS,[/size] INC. (https://web.archive.org/web/19981206053705im_/http://www.tanbooks.com/images/picture/tan.jpg) TAN Books and Publishers was founded by Thomas A. Nelson in 1967 at a time when the problems in the Church were just getting into high gear. Many Catholic publishers such as Benziger and Bruce were getting out of Catholic publishing. Mr. Nelson recalls that at age 30, after studying politics and world events, he concluded that the only way to turn around the political situation in the U.S. and the world was through spiritual means. He believed that if enough people were living in the state of grace and striving to do God's will, then, "for the sake of the elect," God would "run interference" for the just in the social and political arena, according to Proverbs 21:1: "The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will he shall turn it." "When I was 30," Mr. Nelson recalls, "I said to Our Lord: 'There must be something that You need done that I can do.' Three months later I was in the Catholic book business." That was October 13, 1967, which happened to be exactly 50 years after the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima. TAN was founded in Tom Nelson's parents' basement with a $3,300 investment. Mr. Nelson's original concept was both to publish books and to distribute the best books of other Catholic publishers--hence the words "Books and Publishers." The word TAN (Thomas A. Nelson's initials) was chosen instead of a religious name because Mr. Nelson wanted to be able to also sell books on history, health, politics, etc. (TAN has no connection with the famous Thomas Nelson publishing company in Nashville, Tennessee.) Mr. Nelson has consistently attempted to reach out to more and more souls with the truths of the Catholic Faith in the firm belief that this is the path to salvation and happiness, both in this life and hereafter. For example, he has vigorously promoted St. Louis De Montfort's Secret of the Rosary, getting out over 4,000,000 copies, and Our Lady of Fatima's Peace Plan from Heaven, over 2,000,000 copies; plus True Devotion to Mary, over 350,000 copies. The DOUAY-RHEIMS BIBLE was out of print and no longer available anywhere when TAN began publishing it in 1971. It remains the only traditional Catholic Bible available in the English-speaking world. Readers are still requesting copies of a letter sent out by Mr. Nelson in 1985 expounding his vigorous, Catholic, common-sense defense of the accuracy of the Douay-Rheims Bible and St. Jerome's Latin Vulgate vs. all modern Bibles. Mr. Nelson has personally chosen every book that TAN has published. His hallmark is great confidence in the rightness of the Catholic traditions and the right of every Catholic to hold on to those traditions as being the vehicle of salvation. TAN now has over 400 titles in print and has shipped out millions of books, booklets and prayercards in the last 29 years. Mr. Nelson states that he hopes to continue this work for another 30 years if God gives him these years and continues to bless him with health and vigor. He says, "It is my desire and objective to see the Church return to her traditions, to see her triumph in the hearts of men and women throughout the world and achieve the predominant influence once more in all aspects of our social, political and moral lives, and not just in America, but throughout the world!" Return to TAN's Home Page (https://web.archive.org/web/19981206053705/http://www.tanbooks.com/index.htm) |
P.S. The TAN in TAN Books stands for Thomas A. Nelson -- not "Tuum Adoramus Nomen" as ret-conned by Saint Benedict Press. Their lame attempt to un-person the founder of the company they purchased is cringe.Thanks for the bio Matthew, awesome! And it's nice to know where the name TAN came from - great stuff!
Thanks for the bio Matthew, awesome! And it's nice to know where the name TAN came from - great stuff!At our nearby Novus Ordo parish church, which skews liberal (the priest had no problem giving communion to divorced and invalidly "remarried" people even before Amoris laetitia), for some strange reason, they had a huge collection of TAN books in the parish "library", a large bookshelf in the parish office. It looks like Mr Nelson's warehouse blew up! I have to wonder if someone donated the "seminary pack" to them. The parish is the usual sixes and sevens, an army of Eucharistic ministers at Mass, almost-universal communion in the hand, and so on. The priest switches communion lines unpredictably such that recipients can't be assured of receiving from the priest's hands. Not the place you want to be, if you care one iota about your Faith. Sadly, the people eat that stuff up.
Back in the day, my parents used to buy books by the case from TAN and would give them away to those seeking or curious, often we would go to NO churches and leave small stacks in the vestibule. I mention this because about 2 or 3 years ago, we came across a partial case of about a dozen "like new" books from the 1970s of "So High The Price" (https://www.cathinfo.com/the-library/so-high-the-price/) that we then ended up giving away. TAN really had an amazing collection and most certainly did serve a very important need for the faithful then as now.
I was just informed by St. Mary Oratory in Rockford that Reverend Canon Gerald Bell will be the priest offering the Requiem Mass.That "priest" is from ICK. It's a shame that Mr Nelson did so much for Tradition and his funeral mass is done by a fake priest. May God have mercy on his soul.
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