A Man of the World

Tom Abercrombie was a writer and photographer for National Geographic. And what a guy he was! I grew up reading National Geo, it's always been one of my favorite magazines for the supurb quality of the articles and photos and the sheer depth of the coverage in articles. More often than not I find myself researching based off one of their articles, and Tom was one of the reasons I did so.

I didn't know it until I read his obituary in the August issue, but his stories have inspired me, touched me, and given me purpose in looking into topics I'm interested in. He embodied some of the qualities I value highly, such as creativity, knowing languages, travel, going native, exploitation of one's own talents, and listening. I was glad to read that someone whose work I've admired over the years was a person to admire in and of himself.

Even more inspiring to me was the fact that he had left friends behind from all over the world. People from many cultures and countries remembered Tom, and the other writers from National Geo seem to find his friends in many places. We have a tendency in this country to be comfortable in our places and routines, avoiding our neighbors and looking down on others in their lesser state. We can comfortably go out for Thai food, yet not ever want to go to Thailand, much less learn the language and meld with the locals for a short period of time. We're happy to let folks live in neighborhoods divided by language and cultural differences, yet we tout our "American melting pot". There are lots of reasons for this, yet the differences are what make us rich.

So yeah, reading about someone who made it outside those boundaries, developed any skill he felt he needed, and was comfortable with people despite their differences is an inspiration to me. Tom, rest in peace. You truly lived!