Thomas was born on October 6, 1923 in London, England. He was the son of Americans, Lowell Thomas Sr., a prominent writer, broadcaster, and traveler, and Frances "Fran" (née Ryan) Thomas.
In 1949, Thomas and his father were invited by the Tibetan government to make a film there with the hope that their reports would help persuade the U.S. government to defend Tibet against the Chinese.The trip lasted 400 days, and the father and son were the last Westerners to reach Lhasa before the Chinese invasion and occupation. CBS did not broadcast the resultant film, Expedition to Lhasa, Tibet, until years later, but his book about the expedition, Out of This World, published in 1950 became a bestseller.
In 1960, after the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet was Thomas was born on October 6, 1923 in London, England. He was the son of Americans, Lowell Thomas Sr., a prominent writer, broadcaster, and traveler, and Frances "Fran" (née Ryan) Thomas.
In 1949, Thomas and his father were invited by the Tibetan government to make a film there with the hope that their reports would help persuade the U.S. government to defend Tibet against the Chinese.The trip lasted 400 days, and the father and son were the last Westerners to reach Lhasa before the Chinese invasion and occupation. CBS did not broadcast the resultant film, Expedition to Lhasa, Tibet, until years later, but his book about the expedition, Out of This World, published in 1950 became a bestseller.
In 1960, after the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet was given refuge in India, he wrote the book The Silent War in Tibet. "Mr. Thomas describes the brutal Chinese Communist invasion of Tibet beginning in 1950..." and about the armed Tibetan resistance by citizens and lamas which began in the mid 1950s. He told the Anchorage Daily News, "I guess it was the greatest adventure I ever had." In 2006, the Dalai Lama bestowed the International Campaign for Tibet's Light of Truth Award on Lowell Jr and referred to him as "one of the grandfathers of modern day Tibet."
In 1954, Thomas and wife Mary Taylor Pryor, known as "Tay", flew a Cessna 180 around much of the world, logging over 50,000 miles. They wrote about it in their book Our Flight to Adventure....more
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