Tom Hegg is a writer, teacher, actor, speaker, husband and father. Trained for the classical repertory stage at Carnegie-Mellon University and the University of Minnesota, he spent five seasons with the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

The story of "A Cup of Christmas Tea" unfolded in 1981 when Hegg's pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis asked him to write something for the church's 125th anniversary. He composed the story in three days, drawing from memories of Christmas he spent with grandparents and a great aunt. The audience's tear-filled awe at the first reading inspired him to call publishers.

Leery of a seasonal book written in verse by an unknown, publishers rejected his manuscript. Hegg persisted. Then, a chance postcard arrived from actress Helen Hayes, to whom Hegg had sent a copy after a Minneapolis appearence. "It brought tears of joy to my eyes," the actress wrote. "I shall treasure it." Hegg was moved, and called designer/illustrator Warren Hanson, and convinced him to create the illustrations accompanying the text.

Hegg then borrowed money from his parents to print 5,000 copies, which sold out locally. Publisher Ned Waldman bought the rights to the book in 1984. "A Cup of Christmas Tea" is now in its 16th printing and is a 1996 Doubleday Book Club selection.

Hegg is also the author of "PEEF The Christmas Bear," "To Nourish Any Flower," "The Mark of the Maker," and "Up to the Lake."

Hegg teaches drama to students in seventh through twelfth grade at Breck School in Minneapolis. A native of Minneapolis, Hegg lives with his wife and son in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

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