This is the photo Tom used on Facebook, so I'm using it here. Even though he was 78 when he passed several days ago, that face and smile and look in his eyes remained the same throughout his life. We met in LA in the last century through a mutual friend, Hubert Selby, and stayed in touch, He moved back East after I did and for a few months lived in the basement of my half of a duplex I rented. He was a chef, so his contribution was cooking amazing meals for me and my youngest child Flynn.
You can read his obituary on his FB page, but they left out the two life changing experiences he often talked about. His time in a little village in Latin America where he had an epiphany about how happiness did not depend on worldly possessions, and his stint (a year and a half, or more?) in prison during The Vietnam War because he refused to take part in any way. I was always impressed with that commitment. I had been an anti-war activist back then and received death threats and was arrested but don't know if I would have gone to prison willingly as Tom did.
He moved to Vermont to be near his daughter years ago, but he and I spoke on the phone often. In recent months he was definitely tiring from the physical challenges of aging, so I'm grateful he's free of that now. Condolences to his daughter and extended family and many friends.
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