The Passing of Tom Reese

In a part of St. Petersberg, Florida, is a little place for poets, musicians and all other forms of artists. At the original spot, Jim Morrison read poetry before he got into the fast lane (Tom didn't say much about that). And the fellow who ran this little place, Beaux Arts, has passed away. My mother did a nice post about Thomas Bruce Reese, a memoriam. I didn't know Tom too well, but what I did know was good. As Mom mentions:

...I remember him getting up and walking out of the Gallery in the middle of my recitation of one of my poems, saying (not quietly - Tom gave no criticism or admonishments privately or quietly!) he would not stay and listen to a piece of work that I cared so little about that I would read it too fast, or too carelessly. If I didn't care about my work, he said, why should he...

I was there for that, I was on leave from the Navy - and I remember him talking about it afterward (Mom wasn't around) as I snagged some of the coffee. I remember that because he didn't do that for an effect. He was still muttering about it as he checked the coffee pot, busying himself. He was a coach for her, and he cared. I filed that one away as an experience, something Mom paid the price for so I got an education. Yes, once upon a time I did read poetry. There's picture evidence.

And when Mom emailed a few of us and told us about Tom, well - I remembered some of these things and came to the realization that this was 14 years ago. That's a long time, and for all the coaching I got through proxy (Tom was good, and while loud, if you paid attention you learned) - I didn't know the man at all. I remember him being black and blue from being beaten and robbed around 1995. I remember the coaching. And I also remember that Beaux Arts was synonymous with Tom for me. They were one and the same, there was no distinction. Tom was the soul of the place.

Mom suggested in her post to Google "Thomas Bruce Reese", and doing so nets 3 pages of links. One of the more interesting is this site, which has a list of artists, friends and fans of Beaux Arts. I'm not on the list. Look at the list carefully, though, and you may be surprised to see who is. And at the core of all of that was Tom Reese.

I suppose this is a close of a chapter for artists in St. Petersburg, Florida. Hopefully it's the beginning of a new one as well.

At the end of his life, all I can say is that he was a good man. And that should be enough.

Picture of Beaux Arts is from my mother's Flickr photo set.