Tom Pollock

This morning, I received a call that Tom Pollock had died in hospital. Tom and I were schoolmates and friends from the fourth grade, when his family moved to our school district, through the tenth grade, after which I went away to school. I always thought that Tom was the smartest of our group of friends, and he did go on to be a Russian language and cultural expert for the National Security Agency. Tom and I had lost track of each other for over half a century, until we were reconnected by another childhood classmate, George Martin, when George learned that we both had colon cancer.

Tom's surgery in the middle of April seemed to be a complete success. He was released from the hospital and went home. Shortly thereafter, he developed the complications that presumably led to his demise. According to the account that I got, he slipped away peacefully, in no apparent physical pain. I hope that he was at peace in his final days and hours.