fulmine I was reading Kitchen Confidential at work when a contractor I knew and used to swap books with from time to time mentioned he sometimes stopped in and had a drink with Bourdain after work and invited me along. I declined and have regretted it ever since. Said he was a great guy, good conversation and we’d have a lot
In common music wise and world view in general. Over the years I’ve come to regard this as a massive compliment.
Ironically, I mentioned to the same guy ( at another time ) that I’d seen The Mescelaros the previous night at Roseland. He didn’t know who they were until I mentioned Strummer.
‘Joe? Great guy. I played cards with him in the basement of a bar when I was in San Francisco. We used to get a lock in. Cool guy.’
Now I think of it, Tom was a cool guy himself. Quiet with a presence, Dry humour, generous spirit but also quick tempered. I used to tell him the temper was due to pretending to be Irish. Third or fourth generation, you know how they are over here.
