Both are artists, Joe is also an
architect, and both remember Chase City and what things were
like during the Jim Crow era. They both also share the
gift of optimism. When they recall the segregation of
their youth, and the poverty most Southside Virginians endured
in that period of time, they relate pleasant memories.
When an Native American exhibit
opened at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Tom,
Joe and I met to view the films, see the artifacts, and in Joe
and Tom’s case, learn a ceremonial rain dance. By
the way, it worked. It rained almost for a solid month
after that. Joe Epps embraces his mixed ethnicity that
includes, among others, Native American ancestry. In the
museum gift shop, Tom picked up a book on Virginia Indians
titled, We’re Still Here: Contemporary Virginia Indians
Tell Their Stories. One of the coauthors of that text was
a writer named Sandra Waugaman. For months after that
exhibit, Tom talked about that book; it really inspired him.
As it turned out, Sandra Waugaman ended up writing the
book about Tom’s life that is now in hardback and
available at most major book stores and on Amazon.com.
And we are glad she did.
This is a little book by a small
press that is a typical “as told to” story.
However, there is nothing typical about the man the book
is about.
Recently, a book signing was held at
the Valentine Richmond History Center, the place we have been
hanging our volunteer hat since 1985. We introduced Tom
to the museum, and he generously donated some of his papers to
the collections. He later generously agreed to hold the
first of three book signings for his biography at the Center.
It was remarkable how many people
came out on a weekend afternoon to see and hear Tom Cannon.
The
books sold at a good clip. Some who
were there received the gift of one of his $1,000 checks in the
past. Others brought their families so their children
could see, first hand, a true hero. Members of his family
and extended community came to visit, as well as his good
friends. There were more than a few heroes in their own
right who came and went during the event, as if to salute one
of their own. The auditorium was filled to standing room only
for what turned out to be an inspirational and uplifting
experience.
After the event, when we had time to
process the good fortune to have been in that audience, and to
actually know Tom Cannon, we were glad that he is getting some
good feedback and attention. Many of his character and
stature are not properly saluted until they are dead and gone.
His lessons about personal humility and generosity under
adverse conditions makes us all want to be better human beings.
We can only hope for your sake that you have a Thomas
Cannon in your community. If not, perhaps you can
purchase this book, and see if it will inspire you to help your
neighbors and friends as he has done for so many decades.
According to the closing lines of Poor Man’s
Philanthropist, “[Tom Cannon] says that his spiritual
memorial has always been indelibly inscribed on the hearts of
those he’s touched. His funeral speech ends with
this statement for anyone wishing to remember him asking that
they say this of him: ‘Having been born and reared under
less than the most favorable of circumstances, Thomas Cannon
tried as best he could, as often as he could, to do as much as
he could, for as many as he could, for as long as he could,
with the little that he had.’” 
