Losing a good friend never gets easier and when you hit your sixties, more and more folks you know start falling off the planet. Tom Shine's life ended on Saturday from a heart attack after fighting cancer for several years at age 72.
I met Tom in 1977 in San Jose when I started my freshman year at San Jose State. I was looking for a place to live, so I drove up from my home in L.A. and what I saw was shocking. The downtown looked like Ground Zero with hookers, drug dealers, and junkies everywhere. I found a room in an old Victorian called Ivy Hall and the first person I met there was Tom.
"How bad is the neighborhood?" I asked him.
"It sucks, but hey--the rent is $90 a month and that includes utilities. Wanna beer?"
Over the next four decades, Tom and I hoisted a few beers and were roommates who lived in different configurations. First, we lived in an apartment complex where I was the manager as we partied away much of the mid-1980s.
We became well-known for our annual Super Bowl soiree and another bash that we named The Apocalypse-- a world-ending celebration that lasted for days. We made Kahlua every Christmas to give to people as gifts, we held poker tournaments, bachelor parties, barbecues, and book club meetings.
We called it the Bachelor Flat. Pretty soon, the local police were closing down our parties every weekend, to the point where we befriended several of the officers. On Sundays, we would play softball at Williams Street Park from 10 am until dark and then hit the flat for some late-night revelry.
Later we roomed together at 133 East Reed Street in downtown SJ in an old house that was built in the late 1890s by Thomas Reed, one of the last survivors of the Donner Party. This too was a legendary party house as 3-4 guys rented rooms at $150 monthly each and tried to kill as many brain cells as humanly possible.
Tommy and I hit it off right away because we both love history and sports. He supported all of the professional teams from Boston passionately--the Celtics, the Red Sox, the Patriots--even the Bruins and had zero issues needling me about my Lakers and Dodgers. And he was a great source of fascinating factoids about history (not fake news or "alternate facts"). He also followed the SF Giants and Forty-Niners and was also a big supporter of the women's basketball team at Stanford.
Tom
(pictured center with myself left and Todd Axtell, far right) loved cycling, eating, reading, eating, watching sports and movies--and did I mention eating? He was an active athlete who played basketball against Dr. J. while he attended UMass in 1969-70, and was a fairly impressive over-the-line (softball) player.
He was one of those people who could eat anything and not gain weight. Watching him consume a huge piece of chocolate cake was priceless. He made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that had their own zip codes. We would make late-night runs to Original Joe's for their killer burgers and ravioli and more than once we would finish off an XL pie from the House of Pizza without hesitation. I got fat and he stayed the same--tall and lean. Story of my life.
Tom grew up in Jamaica Plain, MA and I was able to go there to visit with him in 2000. His sister Pat got us some awesome tickets for a game at Fenway Park, but then it got rained out. During the last 20 years of his life, Tom's teams won six Super Bowls (Pats), one NBA title (Celtics), two World Series Championships (Red Sox), and one NHL title (Bruins). He loved winners and hated things like Deflategate, the Tuck Rule, and don't dare say anything about his beloved Belichick!
The best thing I can say about Tom Shine is that he was a good friend to his friends. He was a solid dude who cared about us and would put himself second always. He was smart and engaging and appreciated conversations that ranged from who killed JFK to does Sasquatch really exist? He loved recommending new series on Netflix or Amazon and discussing what he was reading at the time.
One sad thing about Tom's passing is that he didn't get to see the Goat (Tom Brady) play on Saturday. He was actually sitting down getting ready to watch the game when he had his heart attack. I wasn't planning to root for Brady's Tampa Bay Bucs this year, but now I will--for Tommy.
Tom will probably be most remembered for his kindness and his commitment to his family and those people who were lucky enough to call him friend.
