Thomas O’Conor Sloane III (November 20, 1912 – March 13, 2003) was an American editor, professor, etymologist and career military officer.

Author collaborations at Doubleday and Devin-Adair Sloane, a senior editor at Doubleday in New York City, New York collaborated with such distinguished talents as Salvador Dalí, Thor Heyerdahl, Jacques Cousteau and his son, Philippe Cousteau, Marc Chagall, Hugo and Nebula Award winner Isaac Asimov, Marcel Marceau, Edward Steichen, Leon Uris, Pulitzer Prize winner Bruce Catton, General Matthew Bunker Ridgway, Emmy Award winner Allan W. Eckert, Austin Clarke, Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (Lord Dunsany), Owen Lee, JK Stanford, Joseph T. Durkin, Charles C. Tansill, Selden Rodman, Elizabeth Bentley, George Teeple Eggleston, John M. Oesterreicher, Peter Kavanagh, Oppi Untracht, Philippe Diole, Jack Ganzhorn, Leonard Wickenden, Mario Pei, Seon Manley, Anne Fremantle and many others, during his four decades as an editor at Doubleday, Devin-Adair and other publishing houses.

A partial list of editorial works at Doubleday Authors and titles Steichen

Sloane was the editor of A Life in Photography (Doubleday, 1963) by Edward Steichen. Detailed correspondence between Steichen and Sloane chronicling the production of the book is located in the Edward Steichen Archive (Series VI. Post-MoMA Exhibitions, Publications, and Anniversaries; Subseries VI.A. A Life in Photography; VI.A.2 "Correspondence with Doubleday etc." and the Grace M. Mayer Papers (Series III.E) of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

Asimov

Sloane initiated and was the editor of Asimov's Biographical Encyclopedia of Science and Technology (Doubleday, 1964) by Isaac Asimov. Asimov, in his second and third volumes of autobiography, In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978 (Avon Books & Doubleday, 1980) and I. Asimov: A Memoir (Doubleday, 1994), as well as in his Opus titles, describes the details of Sloane's idea for the book, the decision to put Asimov's name in the title and their excitement at the book's success. Interestingly, Asimov's first published work of science fiction had been accepted by Amazing Stories, the magazine that Sloane's grandfather, Dr. T. O'Conor Sloane had once been the editor of. Sloane and Asimov had a productive working relationship that spanned a decade, as detailed in In Joy Still Felt: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1954-1978 (Avon Books & Doubleday, 1980), although Sloane did ultimately decline to be the editor of Asimov's Guide to the Bible (Doubleday, 1968).

Dalí

Sloane was the editor of Salvador Dalí's autobiographical Diary of a Genius (Doubleday, 1965), which stands as one of the seminal texts of Surrealism, by the best-known artist of what is widely considered to be the 20th century's most influential art movement. As evidenced in part by a letter from Dalí to Sloane, dated July 22, 1965, regarding the promotional efforts by Doubleday for Diary of a Genius, Dalí was not happy and in a subsequent luncheon with Sloane, Dalí threw potato chips in his face.

Manley

Sloane was the editor of Long Island Discovery: An Adventure Into the History, Manners, and Mores of America's Front Porch (Doubleday, 1966) by Seon Manley.

Untracht

Sloane edited books on metal craft and jewelry with Finnish artist, Oppi Untracht, and his wife, Saara, such as Metal Techniques for Craftsmen : A Basic Manual for Craftsmen on the Methods of Forming and Decorating Metals (Doubleday, 1968) and initiated Jewelry Concepts and Technology (Doubleday, 1982).

Cousteau

Sloane was the editor of Jacques Cousteau's first two books with Doubleday: The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea (The Undersea Discoveries of Jacques-Yves Cousteau) (Doubleday, 1970) by Jacques and Philippe Cousteau and Life and Death in a Coral Sea (Doubleday, 1971) by Jacques Cousteau and Philippe Diole.

Heyerdahl

Sloane was the editor of The Art Of Easter Island (Doubleday, 1975) by Thor Heyerdahl.

Sloane's editorial work ranged widely, titles included Designs for Craftsmen: textiles, graphics, ceramics, wood, glass, metal, leather, and many other crafts (Doubleday, 1962) by Walter Miles; Georgetown University: First in the Nation's Capital (Doubleday, 1964) by Joseph T. Durkin; Michigan (Doubleday, 1967) by John Calkins; The Skin Diver's Bible (Doubleday, 1968) by Owen Lee; The Boatbuilders of Bristol (Doubleday, 1970) by Samuel Carter III; The Owls of North America (Doubleday, 1974) by Allan W. Eckert; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Crafts and How to Master Them (Doubleday, 1978) by Grace Berne Rose with drawings by Marta Cone and a popular series of travel-inspired books of photography by Hans W. Hannau, titles included California (Doubleday, 1964), Yosemite (Doubleday, 1967), Martinique (Doubleday, 1967), California in Color (Doubleday, 1969), Bermuda in full color (Doubleday, 1970), The Bahama Islands in full color (Doubleday, 1974); and many more titles by various authors.

Additionally, Sloane facilitated the publication of the book Fabrics for Interiors: A Guide for Architects, Designers, and Consumers (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1975) by Jack Lenor Larsen and Jeanne Weeks, by authorizing the release of drawings from Elements of Weaving (Doubleday, 1967) by Azalea Stuart Thorpe and Jack Larsen to the authors and their publishing house.

Doubleday Dictionary Sloane was involved in the development and publication of the first Doubleday dictionary.

Before Doubleday Sloane entered the publishing world in 1938, serving as an associate editor, then editor, with Liveright Publishing from 1938 to 1940, as associate editor at E. P. Dutton from 1940 to 1942 and again in 1946, Declan X. McMullen Co., from 1947 to 1948 and then as director and editor at the Devin-Adair Publishing Company from 1949 to 1960, when he joined Doubleday as a senior editor. Doubleday had become the largest publishing house in the United States by 1947.

Sloane freelanced Desert Calling: The Story of Charles de Foucauld (Henry Holt, 1949) by Anne Fremantle.

The Devin-Adair Publishing Company Sloane served as director and editor at the Devin-Adair Publishing Company from 1949 to 1960, a conservative publishing house located in NYC and later, Old Greenwich, Connecticut.

A partial list of editorial works at Devin-Adair Authors and titles Kavanagh

Sloane was the editor of The Story of the Abbey Theatre: From Its Origins in 1899 to the Present (Devin-Adair, 1950) by Peter Kavanagh, which Sean O’Casey, reviewing for The New York Times, stated was "the best book written on the subject."O'Casey, S.: New York Times Book Review, 15 October 1950.

Hughes

Sloane was the editor of Prejudice and the Press (Devin-Adair, 1950) by Frank Hughes.

Oesterreicher

Sloane was the editor of Walls Are Crumbling: Seven Jewish Philosophers Discover Christ (Devin-Adair, 1952) by John M. Oesterreicher.

Eggleston

Sloane was the editor of Tahiti, Voyage Through Paradise: The Story of a Small Boat Passage Through the Society Islands (Devin-Adair, 1953) by George Teeple Eggleston.

Stanford

Sloane was the editor of Last Chukker (Devin-Adair, 1954) by JK Stanford.

Plunkett

Sloane was the editor of The Sword of Welleran, and Other Tales of Enchantment (Devin-Adair, 1954) by Edward Plunkett, with line drawings by Robert Barrell.

Rodman

Sloane was the editor of two books by Selden Rodman, The Eye of Man: Form and Content in Western Painting (Devin-Adair, 1955) and Mexican Journal: The Conquerors Conquered (Devin-Adair, 1958).

Wickenden

Sloane was the editor of Our Daily Poison (Devin-Adair, 1955) by chemist and organic farmer Leonard Wickenden. The book — published seven years before Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, which launched the modern environmental movement — proclaimed the dangers of the use of insecticides and other chemicals on human health and the environment.

Tansill

Sloane was the editor of America and the Fight for Irish Freedom: 1866-1922 (Devin-Adair, 1957) by Charles C. Tansill.

Pei

Devin-Adair published several of Italian-born American linguist Mario Pei's many books, with Sloane as the editor; including: One Language for the World and How To Achieve It (Devin-Adair, 1958), a copy of which was given to the leader of every nation in the world.

Ganzhorn

Sloane was the editor of I've Killed Men: An Epic of Early Arizona (Devin-Adair, 1959) by John W. "Jack" Ganzhorn.

Clarke

Sloane was the editor of work by Irish poet Austin Clarke, regarded as one of the leading poets in the generation after Yeats.

Elizabeth Bentley, Devin-Adair and the FBI While at Devin-Adair, Sloane was the editor of Out of Bondage: The Story of Elizabeth Bentley (Devin-Adair, 1951) by Elizabeth Bentley, an American Communist and Soviet spy turned American spy and FBI informant. Sloane and Devin Garrity, the president of Devin-Adair, became embroiled in an FBI investigation involving possible contact at the Devin-Adair offices between Elizabeth Bentley, who visited the offices frequently and American Communist turned FBI informant Harvey Matusow who had visited the offices several times, meeting with Sloane in an attempt to interest Devin-Adair in publishing a book.

Additionally, Kathryn S. Olmsted uses Civil Intelligence Report: T. O'Conor Sloane, III, January 22, 1951, Rauh Papers contained in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., as a resource for her book Red Spy Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth Bentley (University of North Carolina Press, 2002).

Catholic Poetry Society of America and other literary endeavors From 1947 to 1952, Sloane was a director of the Catholic Poetry Society of America, which was headquartered in New York City with chapters in many major cities across the United States and published Spirit, a magazine of poetry, as well as books of selected poetry from the magazine, such as From the Four Winds: Selected Poems from "Spirit" (Idlewild Press, 1939). During this time, a fellow director was Joseph Tusiani who would eventually become the New York State Poet Laureate Emeritus. A well-known president of the organization was A. M. Sullivan. Sloane and Sullivan were also both members of The Craftsman Group for Poetry, a New York City poetry society. Correspondence between Sloane and Sullivan is archived in the A. M. Sullivan Papers at Syracuse University.

Book reviews, poetry reviews and literary criticism Sloane wrote many book reviews for Commonweal, these included For All Mankind by Leon Blum, Wide Margins by George Palmer Putnam, Grey Eminence by Aldous Huxley and Return to the Future by Sigrid Undset; poetry reviews for the Catholic Poetry Society of America's SPIRIT magazine; and provided literary criticism for America: A Catholic Review of the Week.

After retirement In retirement, Sloane continued to read the occasional manuscript in preparation for publication, such as The Final Fortress: The Campaign for Vicksburg 1862-1863 (St. Martin's Press, 1980) by Samuel Carter III and An American Experience of God: The Spirituality of Isaac Hecker (Paulist Press, 1981) by John Farina. He was also known to be a ready source of entertaining anecdotes about the life of an editor, such as the story about his friend Robert Giroux that appeared in The Literary Life and Other Curiosities (Viking Press, 1981) by Robert Hendrickson.

Etymological work Sloane was the etymologist for the International Dictionary of Medicine and Biology (Wiley, 1986) which he worked on for approximately three years during the late 1970s to early 1980s after his retirement from Doubleday. The dictionary was a major project, one which the journal Annals of Internal Medicine referred to as being "a new medical dictionary on a scale and scope never seen before in English...."

Sloane provided the etymologies for Churchill's Illustrated Medical Dictionary (Churchill Livingstone, 1989).

Teaching Hunter College