What do you think?
Rate this book
A bowl of red: Tom Ballard's zest for life
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 13, 2019
This is a wonderful tribute to my cousin, Tom Perry Ballard, by his wife Mira. Tom was considered by many the black sheep of the family. Why? Because he was always looking for something more in life. He married and divorced and rambled around doing all types of odd jobs across the country until he met Mira. If I remember correctly, they met when she was moving. From that point on, Tom was able to use his creative abilities and thrive with her. They opened a framing shop in Tulsa. Mira is an accomplished artist herself, so, they were the perfect couple.
While tis was a successful business, it wasn’t his passion. Books and helping people is where his heart lay. They moved to Sacramento and Tom finally got to do what he loved-librarian.
Before I go further, why the title? Simple. Cooking chili was one of his favorite pastimes along with having a gourmet cup of Joe. He never made it he same twice and yet, no matter how he made it, it was delicious. And like his life, is full of little bit of this and little bit of that, just ;like his life. Even all those years passed, he had an extremely infectious smile. Think Robert Redford and you aren’t far off.
However, with all that said, Tom was killed doing what he loved, helping people.
On April 18, 1993, Tom went to work for the Grand Opening of the new library. As closing time approached, a man who had been hanging around he new building entered and took him and another librarian hostage.. Some of you might remember seeing the stand off on TV. Mira and their son, Jake knew nothing of the events. They didn’t become worried until the hours kept passing by and him not coming through the door with his wide smile. It wasn’t until the police came to the door they realized the gravity of the situation and that Tom wasn’t coming home.
This is a great tribute to a wonderful man.I was honored to know him.
Five Stars
While tis was a successful business, it wasn’t his passion. Books and helping people is where his heart lay. They moved to Sacramento and Tom finally got to do what he loved-librarian.
Before I go further, why the title? Simple. Cooking chili was one of his favorite pastimes along with having a gourmet cup of Joe. He never made it he same twice and yet, no matter how he made it, it was delicious. And like his life, is full of little bit of this and little bit of that, just ;like his life. Even all those years passed, he had an extremely infectious smile. Think Robert Redford and you aren’t far off.
However, with all that said, Tom was killed doing what he loved, helping people.
On April 18, 1993, Tom went to work for the Grand Opening of the new library. As closing time approached, a man who had been hanging around he new building entered and took him and another librarian hostage.. Some of you might remember seeing the stand off on TV. Mira and their son, Jake knew nothing of the events. They didn’t become worried until the hours kept passing by and him not coming through the door with his wide smile. It wasn’t until the police came to the door they realized the gravity of the situation and that Tom wasn’t coming home.
This is a great tribute to a wonderful man.I was honored to know him.
Five Stars
Displaying 1 of 1 review