Don Thompson grew up in the historic hamlet of Tappan, New York, almost literally in the shadow of the site where Major Andre was hung, and attended the Dutch Reformed church where Andre's trial was held, so perhaps he was destined to become a history teacher. He graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan and received a Master's Degree in geography from SUNY-Albany. He taught middle school social studies in Michigan and Vermont before settling in Clay, New York, where he taught ninth grade social studies in the East Syracuse-Minoa School District for 29 years, focusing on world cultures. During the years he was teaching he received several awards, including Teacher of the Year for his district, and one from Business Week Magazine for innovative teaching in creating a simulated archaeological dig activity for his students. He participated in professionally-run digs for over 10 years at such sites as Rogers Island, NY, and Mt. Independence, VT. He also directed a dig in Clay, New York, for three summers, excavating a log cabin dating from the late 1700s, sponsored by the Clay Historical Association and funded through NY State grants. The artifacts discovered are in a display he created for the Clay Historical Park. He was program chairman and president of the Clay Historical Association for about 10 years.
Upon his retirement from teaching he worked part-time for Onondaga County Parks, doing first-person interpretations at Ste. Marie Among the Iroquois, a living history museum, and later doing school programs on explorers Samuel de Champlain and Jacques Cartier. He went into the schools to demonstrate early crafts such as candle-dipping and papermaking as part of the county's Museums to Go program. Don developed an interactive school program for the Salt Museum at Onondaga Lake Park as well. He became interested in the history of Onondaga Lake when he was asked to take over the narrated tram tours around the lake. The more he researched this topic, the more he realized that the lake's fascinating history was not well-known to most local residents, although people were aware of the pollution problems the lake was experiencing and official efforts to try to clean it up. He also discovered there were still elderly people alive who remembered the resorts around the lake in the early 1900s. Using interviews with some of these seniors, aged mid-90s to 103, original photos, historical postcards and other primary sources, he wrote The Golden Age of Onondaga Lake.
Don Thompson continues his active interest in local history wherever he is living, now in Vermont and Florida. He has researched the history of Egmont Key in Tampa Bay and gives talks on the island to civic groups and libraries, and also does first-person school programs on railroad baron Henry B. Plant, Andrew Carnegie, and explorers Henry Hudson and Samuel de Champlain. He is considering another book, perhaps on the resorts of Lake Bomoseen, VT, where he lives for half the year. He enjoys the interaction with students and audiences and finds this inspires him to continue researching historical topics.
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