Goodbye to friends in the last days of 2020: Tom Hammons

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Beyond our artist-critic relationship – I reviewed Tom on my blog several times – Kimberly and I became friends with Tom and his wife, Veronique sometime after we moved to Cincinnati.

I just saw Veronique today when we took her a little Christmas gift and I was relieved to see that she is doing better, one day at a time.

I treasure a story Tom shared with me about the day he said goodbye to our mutual friend and mentor Italo Tajo.

Italo and Tom were both Masons, and in his deathbed the old Maestro gave Tom a handshake that only Masons understand.

I am not a Mason but I do remember the last time I saw Tom and how I got from him an especially strong handshake that I think he reserved for special friends. I want to think that we were considered “special” friends by Tom – two of many “specials” in his large circle of friends.

Heavens knows he was and will forever be special to us.

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”