Stompin' Tom Connors - In Memorium

For in hope we are saved.
The Letter of Paul to the Romans, 8:24

It is with great regret that the Oracle of Ottawa will attempt to extend his sincere and heart felt condolences on the news of the passing of Stompin' Tom Connors, a great Canadian. Born into trying circumstances, that today, are virtually no longer in existence, Thomas Charles Connors discovered early his great gifts of perseverance and dogged grit. A man born of great gifts which he continued to develop all his life, Stompin' Tom never deviated from the truth discovered in himself.

Stompin' Tom Connors OC

 It is a very fond memory of the Oracle of Ottawa that the first "Rock Concert" he ever attended was Stompin' Tom in Arnprior, Ontario in 1970 or was that 1971? When the number one song on Canadian radio was Big Joe Mufferaw. The venue was the church hall of Saint John Chrysostom Church in Arnprior, which of course was sold out well in advance. The Oracle of Ottawa remembers with crystal clarity the Stompin Tom Tour vehicles; the honking brand new white Ford Thunderbird's with the largest set of Texas Longhorn horns you ever saw, attached to the front grill of said vehicles. You just can't make this stuff up.

It is truly amazing how long greatness adheres to memory. There he was in the full vigor of youth and on the start of his meteoric career path, Live and in Person!. Stompin' Tom had great stage presence, similar to the likes of Johnny Cash and Gordon Lightfoot. His shows all through his career were of a special electric quality, and the Oracle of Ottawa knew even at the age of thirteen years that this man would continue to be a force to reckoned with for a very long time. His works will enter the folk song cannon of Canada, and the Oracle of Ottawa will predict that at many times into the far distant future there will be many rebirths of his songs as the spirit and forms of this great construction of Canada will require. You know, like John Tavener, is in England, but much more important.

It is not as widely known as it should be, but Stompin' Tom was a man of very great depth and assorted talents. He wrote not one but two memoirs! And without a ghost writer, thank you very much. Which is quiet impressive when you discover the true amount of time that Mr. Connors actually spent in a classroom. And the Oracle of Ottawa will help you out here, it was not very much...The Oracle of Ottawa discovered the real man several years ago when he released his complete works of songs and some other very interesting things that occupied the mind of Stompin' Tom Connors. It was all bound in a surprisingly large hardcover of red cloth and in quarto size, no less. In the back of the book, after the hundreds of awesome songs, there is a description of a rather awesome algorithm for a perpetual calendar that Stompin' Tom created and if memory serves, had patented!

Today we all feel a loss, and lesser in and of ourselves, but the mans words and thoughts will live in the Canadian archtype as long as and no doubt longer than Canada lasts. Another Great Canadian; Northrop Frye, often said that all life is a quest, and it's greatness is measured in the fullness of its realization. Stompin' Tom Connors has painted out for us its importance...