Tim Dorsey

Timothy Alan Dorsey (January 25, 1961 – November 26, 2023) was an American novelist.^[1] He is known for a series starring Serge A. Storms, a mentally disturbed vigilante antihero who rampages across Florida enforcing his own moral code against a variety of low-life criminals.

Tim Dorsey
Dorsey at a book signing at Haslam's Book Store in 2011
Born	Timothy Alan Dorsey (1961-01-25)January 25, 1961 Carmel, Indiana, U.S.
Died	November 26, 2023(2023-11-26) (aged 62) Islamorada, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Bishop Guertin High School Auburn University
Children	2
Website
www.timdorsey.com

Biography

Tim Dorsey was born in Carmel, Indiana, and was taken to Florida by his mother at the age of 1. He grew up in Riviera Beach, a small town in Palm Beach County just north of West Palm Beach. Dorsey graduated from Bishop Guertin High School in Nashua, N.H., in 1979.^[2]

Dorsey attended Auburn University, where he became the editor of The Auburn Plainsman, the student newspaper; he wrote about racism while at Auburn.^[3] Dorsey graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor's degree in Transportation. After graduation, he moved to Montgomery, Alabama, and served as a police reporter for a local newspaper. In 1987, Dorsey relocated to Tampa, Florida, and became a reporter for The Tampa Tribune. Until he resigned from the paper in 1999 to write full-time, he worked variously as political reporter, correspondent in the Tribune's Tallahassee bureau, copy desk editor, and, finally, night metro editor and news coordinator.

Dorsey lived in Tampa with his wife and two daughters and was a Tampa Bay Rays fan. He also still considered himself a Boston Red Sox fan, cultivated while attending high school in New Hampshire as a teen.^[4]

Dorsey died in Islamorada, Florida, on November 26, 2023, at the age of 62.^[5]

Serge Storms

Most of Dorsey's novels feature Serge A. Storms as the primary character. The character has several coexisting mental illnesses that render him obsessive, psychopathic, schizophrenic, and frequently homicidal, but Storms serves as the anti-hero in Dorsey's works due to his strong sense of moral absolutism and justice. Serge is intelligent, and frequently devises wildly inventive ways of condemning villains (or at least who he perceives as such) to death. His co-pilot in the majority of his adventures is Coleman, whose personality is the exact opposite of Serge. Whereas Serge is a high-strung straight-edged coffee addict, Coleman is an alcoholic drug user who goes to extreme lengths to maintain his buzz.

Novels by Tim Dorsey

Order of Publication	Order in Chronology[6]	Title	Publication	ISBN
1	2	Florida Roadkill	1999	ISBN 978-0-06-113922-2
2	3	Hammerhead Ranch Motel	2000	ISBN 978-0-380-73234-0
3	5	Orange Crush	2001	ISBN 978-0-06-103154-0
4	1	Triggerfish Twist	2002	ISBN 978-0-06-103155-7
5	4	The Stingray Shuffle	2003	ISBN 978-0-06-055693-8
6	6	Cadillac Beach	2004	ISBN 978-0-06-055694-5
7	7	Torpedo Juice	2005	ISBN 978-0-06-058561-7
8	8	The Big Bamboo	2006	ISBN 978-0-06-058563-1
9	9	Hurricane Punch	2007	ISBN 978-0-06-082967-4
10	10	Atomic Lobster	2008	ISBN 978-0-06-082969-8
11	11	Nuclear Jellyfish	2009	ISBN 978-0-06-143266-8
12	12	Gator A-Go-Go	2010	ISBN 978-0-06-143271-2
13	13	Electric Barracuda	2011	ISBN 978-0-06-187689-9
14	14	When Elves Attack	2011	ISBN 978-0-06-209284-7
15	15	Pineapple Grenade	2012	ISBN 978-0-06-187690-5
16	16	The Riptide Ultra-Glide	2013	ISBN 978-0-06-209278-6
17	17	Tiger Shrimp Tango	2014	ISBN 978-0-06-209281-6
18	18	Shark Skin Suite	2015	ISBN 978-0-06-224001-9
19	19	Coconut Cowboy	January 26, 2016	ISBN 978-0-06-224004-0
20	20	Clownfish Blues	January 24, 2017	ISBN 978-0-06-242922-3
21	21	The Pope of Palm Beach	January 30, 2018	ISBN 978-0-06-242926-1
22	22	No Sunscreen for the Dead	January 15, 2019	ISBN 978-0062795885
23	23	Naked Came the Florida Man	January 7, 2020	ISBN 978-0062796004
24	24	Tropic of Stupid	January 26, 2021	ISBN 978-0062967503
25	25	Mermaid Confidential	January 25, 2022	ISBN 978-0062967534
26	26	The Maltese Iguana	February 28, 2023	ISBN 978-0063240629

Short stories and Essay collections by Tim Dorsey

• Florida Roadkill: A Survival Guide (2010)
• Squall Lines: Selected articles & essays (2012) ISBN 978-1-47-925806-2
• Tropical Warning: An Original Serge Storms Story and Other Debris (2013)

External links

• Tim Dorsey's website
• Powells' Interview with Tim Dorsey
• Tim Dorsey on Amazon
• Harper Collins page

References

1. Risen, Clay (December 2, 2023). "Tim Dorsey, Who Turned Florida's Quirks Into Comic Gold, Dies at 62". The New York Times. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
2. Shaw, A. (Spring 2012). Gunfights and Florida History: An Interview with Tim Dorsey. Saw Palm, 6, 25-30. Retrieved from http://www.sawpalm.org/uploads/6/6/2/8/6628902/saw_palm_-_volume_6_-_2012.pdf on 2 February 2022.
3. Washington, Jesse (2015-02-12). "Up From Leeds". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-13. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
4. interview "In the footsteps of subversives" by Anna Mundow, Boston Globe February 25, 2007.
5. "Tim Dorsey, who blended crime, comedy in Florida-based novels, dead at 62". Boston25 News. 28 November 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
6. "Tim Dorsey". www.timdorsey.com.