I never played basketball (with Tom or anyone else), but I remember Tom as the most humble, kindest, person I think I knew while at Bellaire. He was nice to everyone.
When we were seniors, Lee Sappington told Tom that I liked Dylan songs. In between classes he introduced himself and asked me what I thought a Dylan line meant. I told him I didn't know. That was our first conversation. I learned later he was more likely to ask a question than telling me what he thought or was thinking. It was like he was gathering information and playing poker.
One time Marty Halseth and I spent the night at Tom's house. Tom was a Bird Keeper. The Big Red Bird was in the backyard. Marty said very seriously that we were there to protect the mascot. He said students from rival schools wanted to kidnap it. Toms parents were out of town. Tom pulled out a big blender and made whiskey sours. We drank our fill. Then we went into the backyard and passed out guarding the Cardinal.
In the summer of 70 Tom found a stray puppy dog. Susan Guthrie and Tom gave the dog a bath. Tom gave the dog to me. I named her Maggie after the Rod Stewart song playing on the radio. She was a mix and looked like Benji. She lived about 16 years.
One time I remember Tom and I were passengers in the back of Gene Wiggins MG. Gene was at the wheel. It was late at night. The top was down and the car was moving fast. Tom pulled out a dollar bill and held it in his hand where it was blowing in the wind. Tom lost his grasp and the dollar blew away. I remember thinking that's one lost dollar. Not true. Tom jumped out of the car from the back while it was moving. He ran a ways, found the dollar somehow in the dark, and ran back to the car and jumped in. He had turned into Charlie Chaplin.
In the summer of 71 he was in a car accident. Friends that had gone to Bellaire visited him in the hospital. The accident ruined his knee. I knew at Bellaire he had been on the basketball team. He went back to UT at Austin. He would walk slowly between classes on crutches. It looked like he was in pain. I don't know how he did it.
The Funeral
I'm a flower on this hour. Smell the fragrance in the air. Now I know, now I know a flower really cares.
And so it goes, and so it goes, just like a faded, fated Texas Rose. TR, Tom Richmond, Texas Rose.
50 years ago today Tom died..., and his funeral was on the 25th. I still miss him. And it still, five decades later, hurts to think of him just being gone. I have kept "calendar diaries" since 1972, carrying forward important events to help me remember. This date has always deeply bothered me and I know it always will. Too young; too early; too many of us left with a hole in our hearts where Tom lived.
I think about Tom pretty often and wonder what he would be doing now. He was a complex person and might have become a celebrity in CO or a hermit in MT. I don't ever remember talking about what he wanted to do after UT. There was something about him that made people feel close to him and I bet dozens of us would say he was our best friend or at least one of them. We could talk for hours and every conversation seemed important.
One can only aspire to have friends who hold on for so long. Thanks for sharing. Tom was indeed complex. I think he modeled himself as a poet-philosopher, but he had a hard side. He was impulsively fun to the end, but terribly contemplative and brooding. It is hard to lose a piece of your heart and sometimes I think Tom lost too many.
Donna Vogt (Carter)
I never played basketball (with Tom or anyone else), but I remember Tom as the most humble, kindest, person I think I knew while at Bellaire. He was nice to everyone.
Donna
Laurie Cunningham (Lonergan)
He was my mentor and I miss him every single day.
Mark Lee
When we were seniors, Lee Sappington told Tom that I liked Dylan songs. In between classes he introduced himself and asked me what I thought a Dylan line meant. I told him I didn't know. That was our first conversation. I learned later he was more likely to ask a question than telling me what he thought or was thinking. It was like he was gathering information and playing poker.
One time Marty Halseth and I spent the night at Tom's house. Tom was a Bird Keeper. The Big Red Bird was in the backyard. Marty said very seriously that we were there to protect the mascot. He said students from rival schools wanted to kidnap it. Toms parents were out of town. Tom pulled out a big blender and made whiskey sours. We drank our fill. Then we went into the backyard and passed out guarding the Cardinal.
In the summer of 70 Tom found a stray puppy dog. Susan Guthrie and Tom gave the dog a bath. Tom gave the dog to me. I named her Maggie after the Rod Stewart song playing on the radio. She was a mix and looked like Benji. She lived about 16 years.
One time I remember Tom and I were passengers in the back of Gene Wiggins MG. Gene was at the wheel. It was late at night. The top was down and the car was moving fast. Tom pulled out a dollar bill and held it in his hand where it was blowing in the wind. Tom lost his grasp and the dollar blew away. I remember thinking that's one lost dollar. Not true. Tom jumped out of the car from the back while it was moving. He ran a ways, found the dollar somehow in the dark, and ran back to the car and jumped in. He had turned into Charlie Chaplin.
In the summer of 71 he was in a car accident. Friends that had gone to Bellaire visited him in the hospital. The accident ruined his knee. I knew at Bellaire he had been on the basketball team. He went back to UT at Austin. He would walk slowly between classes on crutches. It looked like he was in pain. I don't know how he did it.
The Funeral
I'm a flower on this hour. Smell the fragrance in the air. Now I know, now I know a flower really cares.
And so it goes, and so it goes, just like a faded, fated Texas Rose. TR, Tom Richmond, Texas Rose.
David Hill
Very nicely worded..... Tom was indeed a special man... Dave Hill
Bobby File
50 years ago today Tom died..., and his funeral was on the 25th. I still miss him. And it still, five decades later, hurts to think of him just being gone. I have kept "calendar diaries" since 1972, carrying forward important events to help me remember. This date has always deeply bothered me and I know it always will. Too young; too early; too many of us left with a hole in our hearts where Tom lived.
Laurie Cunningham (Lonergan)
Never a day without him crossing my mind. Fifty years is a long time but I can see his eyes as clear as if he is right in front of me.
Bill P Kelso
I remember our Bird Keeper days together. Good times!
Lee Sappington
I think about Tom pretty often and wonder what he would be doing now. He was a complex person and might have become a celebrity in CO or a hermit in MT. I don't ever remember talking about what he wanted to do after UT. There was something about him that made people feel close to him and I bet dozens of us would say he was our best friend or at least one of them. We could talk for hours and every conversation seemed important.
Sam Keith (Keith)
Reading all these comments makes me melancholy.I feel like I lost connection with a lot of the old-timers by not going to UT instead of Rice.
Jimmy Griffin
One can only aspire to have friends who hold on for so long. Thanks for sharing. Tom was indeed complex. I think he modeled himself as a poet-philosopher, but he had a hard side. He was impulsively fun to the end, but terribly contemplative and brooding. It is hard to lose a piece of your heart and sometimes I think Tom lost too many.