Tom Wrote the Next Great American Novel, 2020

Story #17: On this spot in 2020 Tom wrote the next great American novel.

Tom is a regular at Coffee By Design. Every day he sits down to write his “morning pages” from The Artists Way either before or after work. Each day he writes and each day he throws away the entirety of what he has written. Tom admires creativity, but he does not consider himself an artist. Tom is Italian American. He goes to church in The India Street neighborhood at St. Peter’s. Many years ago he interviewed Italian American old timers from the neighborhood. These recordings are on cassette tapes somewhere in his home. Tom became a great connector for this project. After our first meeting, he introduced me to Marianne and Jeff Reali. Marianne and Jeff became cornerstones of Portland Brick. Mother and son, their stories also became a part of Portland Brick (story #18 and story #20).