Over the years, Tom has managed to build on the musical training he received from his mother. It was she who taught him to read music, using time-worn books from her own childhood. The young pianist turned to more popular pieces. Tom had finally found his musical sound. From then on, he worked to develop his own dreamy, easy listening piano style.
Creative art seems to run in the family.
Tom worked as a cartoonist on that comic strip during the 1950s. While serving in the U.S. Air Force, Tom spent many hours playing in NCO and Officers' Clubs as well as local entertainment spots in Japan and Germany. This all began one night at the NCO Club in Yokota, Japan, when Tom felt that he had much more to offer than the pianist performing. He arranged for a personal audition with the club manager who hired him on the spot, Tom was soon playing four nights a week. After 29 years in the Air Force, Tom retired and he and his wife settled in LaBelle, Florida.