into interviewing, and it quickly became apparent that Tommy had immense drive, passion, and talent, and would produce interviews out of the blue with the most interesting of scholars, adding an important psychological perspective into our output. His enthusiasm quickly led us to invite Tommy into the editorial fold, where he became RSP’s first social media manager, a role which he filled with irreverence and insight. As the RSP expanded, we invited Tommy to become Managing Editor — helping us to run everything on a day-to-day basis, from replying to emails, to updating the website and posting new podcasts. In this demanding and untested role, Tommy once again excelled — and somehow kept recording interviews!
It is no exaggeration to say that without his hard work and diligence the RSP would not be the enterprise it is today. Tommy helped us secure funding. He constantly evangelised for the podcast wherever he went. And on those few occasions where we were able to meet in person — Oxford 2014, Edinburgh 2017, and Rome 2019 — he was as charming, funny, generous, and insightful as our virtual interactions had led us to believe. And we haven’t even begun to reflect on his dedication to his family, his involvement in the communities with which he was connected, and his compassionate and truly inspirational humanity towards the homeless and others in need.
There’s so much more that could be said. And we can now only dream of the many decades of kindness, scholarship, and good humour that the world has now been deprived of. Even so, Tommy has left behind a truly impressive legacy of publications and other outputs that will continue to have impact for years to come. Please check out his Google Scholar page and personal website for yourselves. And you can browse his full back catalogue of contributions to the RSP from his profile page, and we’ll be sharing some of our favourite Tommy episodes as a meagre tribute to this podcasting phenomenon.
From a personal perspective, from all of us at the RSP, there are simply no words. Although he would have hated the supernatural overtones, we close with Horatio’s speech at the death of Hamlet…
Now cracks a noble heart. Goodnight, sweet prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest!
Chris and David