Tom spent a highly politicized childhood in the California Central Valley, New York, Arizona, Los Angeles, Mississippi, Mexico and the Bay Area. He has slam danced to the Clash in San Francisco, hitch hiked across Israel and Alaska and spent his formative years looking for Thoreau in Bonners Ferry and Lao Tsu in China, running chain saw in the Selkirks, and generally wandering around looking at things. These days he is passionate about his wife and daughter, teaching, studying religion, politics and science, Italy, playing music with his friends and mountain biking.