Wow. Very sad indeed. He was truly one of the legends of cave and tech diving. The times I met him he was very approachable and very interesting. The breadth of the things he did to teach and spread tech diving is just incredible.
RIP TOM!
"Is this thing on?"
May he rest in peace.
I met and talked to Tom a few times over the years that I was cave diving. The most memorable was before I ever met him. I showed up at Ginnie for an Intro Class with Larry Green. I saw Rose at the counter and asked her where I could find Larry as I did not really know him either. She said to look for the "skinny old looking guy" outside on a picnic bench. So I go outside and find two "skinny old guys" sitting at the picnic bench in serious conversation. Not wanting to disturb them I went back inside and asked Rose which "skinny old looking guy" was Larry. In classic Rose fashion she pokes her head outside and asks them "which one of you old bastards is planning to teach a class today?" Larry fessed up and I got to meet the both of them. Later in life, Rose used to refer to me as " that old bastard" when I was wanting to take my scooter into Ginnie without an Abe Davis card. Everyone thought that was funny of course till I figured out that I could write DPV on my armband just like the kids at the desk in the shop. And don't ask how I finally got my scooter card....
Great photo of Tom which he posted to Facebook on November 1, 2021. I replied that he looked like a movie star. If "Planet of the Apes" was about cave divers emerging into a different world, Tom could have played Charlton Heston's character of Taylor. LOL!
Trace Malinowski
"Through all of my seasons and all of the reasons, I've stayed on this circuit for me." - Chris Ledoux
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