Many people remember Tom for his wonderful smile, which he bestowed readily on struggling students, fellow writers, friends, strangers and family. He was quick to praise others and to offer encouragement and appreciation. One of Tom's great qualities was his desire to help others achieve their full potential. He had a personal mission to help others see the opportunities in front of them and to not limit what they could achieve. He had a strong entrepreneurial bent and encouraged that in others. Generosity was his chief characteristic and throughout his life he gave freely of his time, talent, possessions and, when he had any, his money. He practiced tithing. In his journal in June 1998 he wrote: "I came to realize how wealthy I am when I count my wealth as those things I have to give to others." Tom was a writer, with 14 published books to his credit. Eleven of his books were action-adventure novels, published by Gold Eagle. One of these became the first action-adventure novel to ever make the New York Times bestseller list. As well as novels, he wrote local histories, theatre revues newspaper and magazine articles, poetry, educational films, and radio and television scripts. His legacy includes three as yet unpublished novels on social issues. He taught creative writing at schools and community colleges, and created and taught a correspondence course called The Novel Tutor. He was a photographer and produced both commercial work and the massive local history project "Home and Homestead", an inventory of rural Simcoe County buildings pre-1920. He was a chess champion, loved classical music and jazz, and enjoyed life to the fullest.