He left our world a better place, and we are the worse for his absence.

Tom inspects the madness at Burning Man

Tom LaPorte died last week. He was 63. His beating heart failed him. But his other heart never did. It was filled with loving generosity and compassion for all those who crossed his path. I benefited greatly from his friendship. So did hundreds of others:

http://journal.burningman.org/2017/03/news/brc-news/weve-lost-tom/

If you are from Chicago, you may remember him as The Guy at Water Main Breaks. As the representative for the Water Department, he managed the local press and informed/assuaged any affected neighborhoods. His poorly-fitting hard hat was the stuff of legend.

In City of Chicago Spokesperson mode

At any water-related disaster, Tom would arrive at the affected neighborhood ahead of the Press. He would knock on residents' doors and explain what was happening, and how the Water Department was working hard to fix things. Then he'd give the resident a box of doughnuts. Later, when the Press would knock at the door to get an Angry Reaction clip,  they'd get residents munching doughnuts saying how these things happen and the Water Department is really working hard.

At neighborhood meetings, Tom would walk in like Daniel in the Lion's Den. He usually escaped unscathed:

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130514/albany-park/albany-park-residents-hold-officials-feet-fire-for-recent-flooding

Or you may remember him from his decades as Managing Editor for WMAQ and WBBM news radio, and Producer for WIND. He won numerous Peabody awards for his work.

My own relationship with Tom began back in Glenbard West High School. He was a "campus radical". Everyone knew him. He had established a larger-than-life persona, even then.

He was a Yippie. He was transfixed by the Chicago Seven trial, and cut school to travel to the courtroom drama. When the defendants entered the court, Tom stuck out his foot and tripped Abbie Hoffman. Then he helped pick Abbie up, asking if he could interview him. Hoffman laughed, recognizing a fellow traveler, and here's the evidence:


Tom interviews Abbie Hoffman during Chicago Seven lunch break

This emboldened Tom to interview Daniel Ellsberg during the Pentagon Papers chapter in American History:

Who is that long-haired guy standing behind Daniel Ellsberg?

During a Student President debate in a packed auditorium, Tom waited for just the right moment to lift up a "LAUGH" sign during a candidate's speech. It brought down the house.

He started a Student Underground Newspaper, called "Smoke". He helped organize a high school Student Union house, which literally went up in smoke. He ran for Glen Ellyn Village Board, scandalizing the bourgeoisie.

We became really good friends a couple of years later, when I really needed a good friend. We became clown partners, and it helped me through a terrible time. Oh, the fun we had:

Tom (and me, mercifully off camera making an ass of myself, and a balloon animal for someone), 7/4/1974.

We wrote countless parody songs. We joined the Jaycees and scripted their big variety show, "Robin Hood and His Merry Persons." It was such a big hit they asked us to write another. So we did. "Job, The Musical" was loosely based on the Biblical character. It departs radically from the Bible when he becomes engaged to Jackie Kennedy before her tragic end, suffocated by an umbrella. I guess you had to be there. We judged it to be hilarious and unproducable. It was.

A long-time project of ours was to produce a "Al Jolson does Mahatma Gandhi" night. Couldn't get the backing...


Another project was to create a radio/internet site called "HNN", the Historic News Network. We combined modern news reporting with historic events, like the Battle of Gettysburg. It was really good... but we couldn't get the backing.

We wrote for the Chicago Gridiron annual charity event, producing laughs for them at the expense of the US Post Office, U.S. Reps Dan Rostenkowski and Mel Reynolds, as well as Louis Farrakhan and the Malcolm X Shabazz Family. I was amazed we got away with so much in front of the Chicago Press and Political Establishment.

The memories accumulate with hours upon hours upon days and weeks and years of inspired laugh- until-you-weep conversation. He was a combination of Edward R. Murrow, Marshall McLuhan and Groucho Marx, with a strong dash of Thomas Merton on Laughing Gas.

Tom always wanted to do "something Noble" in his life. Aside from parenting his son, he succeeded by becoming instrumental with Burning Man and similar "radical forms of self-expression". He mentored scores of young people who sought direction in their lives. Journalists. Artists. Environmentalists. Social Activists. He changed their lives, as they changed his.

Here he is lending a voice to a group of environmental artists as they near completion of a project:

And for anyone who could use a crash course in communications, here he is counseling an artist on how to manage the Press. Substitute "artist" and "Press" with any problem factors you may have and there's your answer:

As usual, a preternaturally distilled constructive analysis. That was Tom. A towering intellect who really enjoyed the slapstick of a pratfall. He could discuss the driest of academic theory and then tell a terrible fart joke, followed by a quote from Winston Churchill or Sophocles. Always the smartest and funniest person in the room, whether it was a convention hall or a bathroom.

Over the last few years, Tom's health had been in decline. His weight had ballooned in the 1990s, triggering Diabetes Type 2. He struggled to lose it, and had succeeded for the most part. But the disease left him with physical problems. It was difficult for him to get around. He never said it, but I believe he was concerned about his ability to keep up with the young crowd with which he hung out.

And he struggled with "substance abuse". It became a major issue in his life for a while. He lost friends and family because of it. He also lost his way for a short time.

But Tom never gave up. And as he worked to re-balance his life, he redoubled his commitment to Burning Man and other Chicago-centric projects. He became even more generous with his time, energy and ideas. Tom's last years were a marvel to behold. He always let me know that he had a free ticket to Burning Man for me. I wish I had gone with him at least once.

We all have friends whom we love and admire. I can only hope that you, O Reader, have someone in your life that has made such an impact as he. Tom had a million friends, and they all were his best friends. I can truly say that he was mine.