I
met Tommy when he picked
me up on I-85 in his
Jaguar. We right
away made friends. He
gave me a key to
his "tree house" and
a free car - "Old
Grey" Buick - which I
could tank up for
free at his various
gas stations. That
way he made it
possible for me to
explore the back
roads in the
poverty-stricken
eastern North
Carolina and take
some of my most
important pictures.
Without Tommy
American Pictures
would have been
nothing! I connected deeply
with Tommy who like me came from a
rural background and
spoke a local
dialect. He was from
an
un-educated
so-called "redneck"
family, but had with
his great intellectual
curiosity risen above
these circumstances and
built up a great
local business
enterprise.
Yet he
found his new-found
wealth empty in itself
and upon meeting me
immediately got inspired by
my vagabond
philosophy: "Security
and happiness is
being on the road
with no money." So
much - in fact - that
he shortly after sold
all his business in
order to become a
"vagabond" himself.
First he hitchhiked
around Europe and
later - after marrying
Linda - they drove
around for 7 years all
over Latin America in
a motor home.
However, before that
trip we had some
wonderful moments
together whenever I
visited his "tree
house" in Greenville,
NC where he would
always gather all his
friends when I came.
And that friendship
has now lasted for
more than 30 years
with both his
daughter Megan and
himself visiting us
in Denmark. Hooked
himself on traveling
he is
today
traveling around
America in his motor
home and trying
to encourage
hard-working Americans
to get on the road to
expand their often
much too narrow
horizons a bit
.....and enjoy life a
little more.