On our news page in the coming issue you will learn the story that your friend and fellow collector Tom Terry has passed. Words were very important to Tom, who by the time we met him thought of himself as a crusty ink and paper man; astonishingly, he still made each word for his publication, PFPC, by picking out several metal letters from a typebox, then dropping it into place in a typesetter.
Only later did Tom use a computer to tell stories of toys and his life: the Bar-B-Q that comically blew up; the ride-on lawn mower; quiet walks with his dogs, tornadoes that came too close. He wrote treasure books and toy magazine with equal, personal, passion.
The personal Tom is the one I remember. He sent lavish Christmas packages with big tins of popcorn and things that were meaningful to the recipient. He was a model for us and aided in getting PM started; we would not be here without Tom or PFPC. He was the harshest of critics and the best of friends.
We talked every week, and usually two or three times when a new issue came out. He was always in his office, ready to have a smoke and talk toys. The Year 2000 came, the new Millennium we all dreaded -- and one day Tom didn't answer his phone. A cool chill passed through those who knew him; news came from Delores that Tom was suffering a cold; shortly after; he announced an illness and began winding down the publication of PFPC.
With his work seemingly done, Tom appeared to recede from the hobby and made infrequent contact except to mentor your editors here at Playset Magazine, admonishing us to keep on schedule, and to maintain quality. We devised a party for Tom, as PM geared up and PFPC wound down, in the halls of OTSN. I had used the word “roast” in describing the party, and I found Tom pacing the hallways outside like a tiger.
“Let’s get this thing over with,” he growled.
I do not think he liked the idea of retirement at all. Inside the ballroom donated by Don Pielin, producer of the toy show for the event, Kathy and Mike Jordan and I painstakingly prepared for the event of his life. The party was filled with loving tribute: Ron Barzso’s beautiful Magic Marxie statuette “The Marxie;” Freddy the Clown sitting Tom in a chair and crowning him with balloons -- one that drooped in an unmentionable way; and a room crowded with collectors. We guffawed ourselves to tears. I’ll always be grateful for that moment in time. We wish you'd feel free to remember Tom, here in our letters section.
He preferred, at the end, not to be mentioned on these pages as he felt there was too much confusion between PFPC and PM. And though we knew Tom for his accomplishments with PFPC, he was always hopeful he’d discover lost treasure or that vein of gold. He took many a lonely trip into the high yonder, and while he never found it in the mountains or deserts he traversed, he did discover the vein of richness in his legion of friends and fans.Tom wanted his illness kept secret. It was cancer, and it has now claimed his life. He died at home Friday, June 11, 2010.
And so, Tom Terry, senior architect and Lion of the Hobby, is dead at 69. Our deepest condolences to his wife Delores who survives him, and two grandsons, lovingly dubbed the “Dudes from Lombard,” his family and many friends who so fondly remember him. God Speed, great one.
Tom was a Christian man and because of that he knows where he is headed; it’s all good. So buck up, little campers; be glad his trials are over, and as at his farewell party, laugh till your tears fall to wash away the hurt. One of us has fallen but he will be remembered and his sets will pass among us and they, like he, will bring us comfort and joy for decades to come.
- Rusty Kern
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