Shirley Thomas (1920-2005) is the author of fifteen books about the history of the astronauts and early space exploration.

Thomas began her career in Hollywood, where she conducted red carpet interviews at movie premiers from 1952-1965. In 1967, she obtained her PhD in Communications from the University of Sussex. She was a professor of Fundamental and Technical Writing for over 30 years at the University of Southern California's Master of Professional Writing Program.

In the 1960s, she pivoted from profiling Hollywood stars to profiling astronauts, resulting in her eight-volume Men of Space series, published between 1960 and 1968. In addition, she organized and chaired the Woman's Space Symposia from 1962-1973 and founded and chaired the Aerospace Historical Society. She was the recipient of the Aerospace Excellence Award from the California Museum Foundation in 1991, the National DAR Medal of Honor in 1992, the Uri Gagarin Medal of Honor in 1995, and the Air Force Association's Airpower Arts and Letters Award in 1961. She was a Fellow in the British Interplanetary Society, member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the International Academy of Astronautics, the National Association of Science Writers, and the Society for Technical Communications.