This guy Tom
is probably dead now and there wouldn't be any record. I don't even know his last name. The last time I lived in Grand Forks, he was sleeping in the basement of the science building at the university--there was a little side door down a ramp and he'd figured how to disable the lock and he'd just slide in there at night, pretty late usually because he'd be out 'til bar time playing pool. This is why I thought of him, because just today Sean Thomas Dougherty's anthology of writing about pool came out-- Double Kiss , it's called , and when I saw the post for it, I remembered this guy Tom. We were friends for about six months, I guess, through one winter. He was homeless in Grand Forks in the winter , which can not be a ton of fun. I mean, one time they canceled classes there because it was going to be 60 below zero--minus 100 with wind chill. Not a place where you could find a park bench or a little spot by the river. I know he was a big time drunk, moreso