Have not seen any of his calls on Ebay this year. Has something happened to Tom or did he stop making calls?
HE ONLY MAKES SO MANY AND SELLS THOSE . IF YOU HAVE SAVED HIM AS A SELLER ON EBAY EMAIL HIM
AND SEE IF HE ANSWERS ........
Thanks for the info!
Unfortunately, I'm sad to say tom passed away in February. A legend has passed on to happy hunting grounds. His son wanted to keep things private, so never posted anything about his passing, But I think enough time has passed so people should know that a great callmaker has passed on.
:bible:
WOW SORRY TO HEAR THAT ....
MY SYMPATHIES GO TO THE FAMILY ...
WOW!!!! I had no idea he passes away. Terrible news!
Oh my goodness. I had no idea. Thoughts and prayers to his family.
Man I hate to hear that. I exchanged several emails with him the last couple of years and bought several calls from him. He was hard to get in touch with at first, but after he kind of got to know me, he was a lot of fun to talk to. I remember asking him several times to build me a call and he kept putting me off. I think he was a little skeptical of people buying and reselling his calls. I remember one time telling him that I had no intention of selling his calls and that two weeks ago I had never even heard of him. He replied in the first line of his email that two weeks ago he had never heard of me either! Once I bought a few, he started emailing me occasionally offering to build me a call. He found out I was a fan of Turpin style boxes and made me three of his version. I was fortunate enough to buy the copy of Mickel's 2nd book that Mr Mickel sent him. I actually tried emailing him in March to see how he was doing. I think he made great calls and every one I own sounds great. Thank you for sharing that information. If you have any contact information for his son, I would appreciate you sending me a pm. Thanks.
So sorry to hear this news. Sold some chalk to Tom back in December and asked if he would make me a call and he said he had some health problems and was not making calls at that time. A few days later a chalk holder showed up in the mail.
More
I had no idea. My condolences to the family.
Quote from: Oldschoolboxcalls on May 16, 2016, 07:12:39 PM
Unfortunately, I'm sad to say tom passed away in February. A legend has passed on to happy hunting grounds. His son wanted to keep things private, so never posted anything about his passing, But I think enough time has passed so people should know that a great callmaker has passed on.
Oh wow that is sad to hear. I sure enjoyed my email conversations with Tom over the years. I will treasure the calls he made for me even more. Always appreciated his whit and sense of humor along with his call making ability. My condolences to his family.
I hate to hear that. I had been meaning to get a call from him myself. He's in a much better place, thoughts and prayers to his family.
Chris
I'm not a regular on the site. I just wanted to tell all of you that Tommy Laska was my uncle, my hunting companion for almost 45 years. He was a very gifted and private person. I called him uncle Hutch because of his Polish heritage. Hutch to tie I think means hello and goodbye. We shot many , many big bucks together. When I was young, I really had no dad. Tom taught me the art of tracking big majestic New England whitetails. He had a late life passion for the sound of turkeys . He was a master finish carpenter in his younger days. He built my first house for me. He loved his call making, and really got to make so many quality calls for people like Davis Love the III and President George W. Busch. My friend and yours has left us for a better place, I hope that the snows come early and the rut lasts long uncle Tom. HUTCH TO TI . Thank you all for enjoying his Lonefeather calls , I will hold my 4 calls close to my heart. Take care one and all . Sincerely Billy Snyder
Billy thank you for such a personal perspective. I can tell in your words how much he will be missed. You are welcome here anytime and we would love to hear anything you wish to share. So sorry for your loss but always know that he will still be in the woods with you.
Amen Billy,To a great callmaker and a great gentlemen
Very sad news. Over the years I was able to share many correspondences with Tom and have many of his calls. I'd echo what Seth said about a man who was always humble and an extremely talented callmaker. My condolences to his family.
Mr. Tom and I shared many email and phone conversations. I really do not remember how it got started but we shared a lot on call making. It came up in conversation one time that I had some good Georgia red cedar, he said he would like to see some of it because he had never seen any good cedar out of Georgia. I mailed him enough to make a few calls. He made several fence post calls out of it and several lids out of the rest. He called me and told me it was some of the best cedar he had ever seen and wanted some more. I told him I found the tree dead down in a swamp. The tree had been crowded as it grew among other trees and had no limbs until 20 feet,thus no knots. I told him how I had cut the tree into 8 foot sections and carried out on my shoulders. He included in the description of the calls he made from the cedar that it came from Misery Swamp in Georgia. He did something unusual and made me a box call from some of it. He wrote out the description as Misery Swamp cedar with a walnut lid from Indiana for my friend in Georgia.He gave it a special touch by making a lid silencer from a worn out pair of his garden gloves. I have never seen that on any other call he made and sold. I loved talking to him and we would talk for an hour or so each time we talked. He also sent me hand drawn patterns to make a fence post call. He was very artistic, a stickler for details, and he had beautiful hand writing. He was a true craftsman and he will be missed. I have only one call of his but that is enough.
Larry9988 that was an awesome story and great tribute. Thanks for sharing that.
This is sad to hear. I just began following him on eBay hoping he would make a Turpin and post it. They looked like very well made calls and by the comments posted here I was right. Prayers for his family.
I'm bumping this one. There are some great stories here about a very special and talented call maker. May he rest in peace.
Just wanted to let, all know. Tommys graveside funeral will be held Saturday August the 6th. Tom will be laid to rest next to my dad in Great Barrington Massachusettes .Military funeral, as Tom was a United States Airforce veteran. I miss him everyday. So long guys good luck to all of you.