Eulogy for ThomasThomas and I were walking around Paddington markets looking at the stalls and we came across a man selling carved wooden puzzles. I said to Thomas, they are a quite nice gift but I know some people are frustrated with them because they can't solve them. I asked the stall holder how long it normally took to work them out -some of them looked quite complicated. "Oh about 3 or 4 hours, usually." With that Thomas had already picked one of them up.
I said to Thomas, "Come on let's look at some of the other stalls I not gonna stand here for hours waiting for you to solve wooden puzzles?" but he had already nearly solved the puzzle, "Just a minute," he said, like he always did.
A few minutes later he had solved it and had picked up another one.
The guy selling them said, "Come on, they're only twenty dollars, why don't you buy one and then you can take it home and solve it." Thomas would have none of that, of course.
After about 20 minutes Thomas had managed to solve all the man's puzzles and said to him, "thanks we don't need to buy any of your puzzles today."
That epitomised Thomas, a frustrating, embarrassing, perfectionist, and mischievous genius.
Thomas wanted to understand everything, probe everything and push all the buttons. He needed to try everything for himself. No area of human endeavour was outside his interest; no area of science was too obscure. In fact the more controversial and weird it was the better.
His near obsession with good design led to the legendary Timberland shoe incident in which he asked the simple question of the manufacturer, "what does a lifetime guarantee mean?"
I think he went through four pairs of shoes, which he diligently sent back to timberland not in pairs, but one at a time, with various faults like frayed stitching, scuffs etc.
To assume that he was too cheap to go and buy another pair of shoes would miss the point : a lifetime guarantee was not a simple marketing device : it was a sacred thing that must be protected and enforced lest the delicate balance of the universe be upset.
He waged a war on mediocrity - near enough was never good enough even if it was going to take all day and all night and all day. Most of the time people, myself included, did not have the stamina to join him on his quest for perfection.
He had boundless energy and motivation. Thomas lived two lifetimes in the time most of us have lived only a third of one.
I believe that Thomas was a mystic : a modern day shaman - who would regularly make a difficult journey into a world outside our own to bring back knowledge or fire or some revelation into the nature of the universe.
He was searching for a unifying theory - something that would get to the heart of the matter of everything.
Yet he was also a child: someone with a kind of youthful naivety and devilish playfulness.
His favourite phrase when confronted with my reluctance to become involved in some foolhardy adventure was, "Come on Len, what's the worst that can happen?"
If real progress was to be made risks needed to be taken and there was no time like the present for Thomas.
Thomas wanted to remembered as a positive force - of mischief and humour and creativity.
Ultimately however it is us left standing here wondering who was that man?
Where did he come from?
The answer is that he was Thomas Tork and he came from the Future. He's gone back there now and he's waiting for us to catch up with him.
Last Wednesday I lost the greatest friend anyone could have.
Thomas I can't believe you're gone.
I can still hear you quoting from Blade Runner,
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attacked ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. Watched sea beams glitter in the dark at the Tennhauser Gate. All these memories will be lost in time, like tears in rain."
Please visit our memorial page where you can read other peoples thoughts about Thomas and add your own.