I was very, very sorry to hear of the death of Tom Ferry (his screenname was OHB). I was privileged to get to know him on a little deeper level last year as we were organizing the AZB/onepocket.org room at the 2006 DCC. Without his enthusiasm and energy the room would NEVER have happened.
I was at work one day last year when I received a call. My receptionist said there was a man on the line who wanted to talk to me about pool, and he didn't want to take no for an answer. He introduced himself as Tom Ferry (OHB) and in his gruff voice said, "you need to organize this AZB room." We talked for quite awhile about pool in general, and some of his pool exploits. Though I already felt like friends just from our frequent interactions on AZB, after several weeks of more phone calls and many, many more PMs I felt much closer.
Tom had a tremendous enthusiasm for pool and love for the game (especially the onepocket aspect). Though he prided himself on being "all about the money" he was totally in love with the game. He had been a road player years ago (mentioned twice with affection by Buddy Hall in his biography) and had never lost that deep sense of satisfaction at having mastered (or more nearly mastered than most of us will ever approach) such a complex game.
Tom was diagnosed last year with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of bone marrow cancer; but he did not want the forum in general to know. He only confided in me to explain why he could not be more active in setting up the AZB room. He even quit some of his therapy (which was only palliative, not curative) the week or 2 prior to DCC because it was making him feel bad enough that he wasn't sure he would be able to enjoy DCC properly (and as we all know he had DEFINITE ideas about how to enjoy DCC properly - ideas I have co-opted for myself).
At DCC Tom was very weak, but as you also are aware, he STILL enjoyed DCC to the max, reveling in the non-stop action, playing as much as he could, even roping Buddy Hall into the AZB room (unfortunately when I wasn't there). He knew it would be his last DCC, but rather than dragging people down, he preferred to try to make the event as enjoyable as possible for our forum members. There is a LOT to admire in a man like that.
I have deep, deep regret that I was unable to meet his son (in whom he took GREAT pride) and that I was unable to ever match up with Tom the way we wanted. My condolences to his family. We as a community are much richer for his contributions here.
I was at work one day last year when I received a call. My receptionist said there was a man on the line who wanted to talk to me about pool, and he didn't want to take no for an answer. He introduced himself as Tom Ferry (OHB) and in his gruff voice said, "you need to organize this AZB room." We talked for quite awhile about pool in general, and some of his pool exploits. Though I already felt like friends just from our frequent interactions on AZB, after several weeks of more phone calls and many, many more PMs I felt much closer.
Tom had a tremendous enthusiasm for pool and love for the game (especially the onepocket aspect). Though he prided himself on being "all about the money" he was totally in love with the game. He had been a road player years ago (mentioned twice with affection by Buddy Hall in his biography) and had never lost that deep sense of satisfaction at having mastered (or more nearly mastered than most of us will ever approach) such a complex game.
Tom was diagnosed last year with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of bone marrow cancer; but he did not want the forum in general to know. He only confided in me to explain why he could not be more active in setting up the AZB room. He even quit some of his therapy (which was only palliative, not curative) the week or 2 prior to DCC because it was making him feel bad enough that he wasn't sure he would be able to enjoy DCC properly (and as we all know he had DEFINITE ideas about how to enjoy DCC properly - ideas I have co-opted for myself).
At DCC Tom was very weak, but as you also are aware, he STILL enjoyed DCC to the max, reveling in the non-stop action, playing as much as he could, even roping Buddy Hall into the AZB room (unfortunately when I wasn't there). He knew it would be his last DCC, but rather than dragging people down, he preferred to try to make the event as enjoyable as possible for our forum members. There is a LOT to admire in a man like that.
I have deep, deep regret that I was unable to meet his son (in whom he took GREAT pride) and that I was unable to ever match up with Tom the way we wanted. My condolences to his family. We as a community are much richer for his contributions here.
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