Article about Tom Cook by Kathy Johnson Clarke
Posted: 09.06.2009
Tom Cook touched so many lives as a coach, friend and mentor. I would be happy to share my thoughts, as he will always be so incredibly special to me and one of my favorite people on Earth. For anyone who knew Tom they will tell you about his incredible red hair, his warm smile, the twinkling green eyes that went with the grin, as well as his gentle and sweet demeanor (rare in the coaching world). Indeed, those qualities made him special to all of us, but he was so much more. He could stay remarkably calm in stressful situations and, amazingly, he could readily deal with the emotional fragility of a female athlete. I'm certain there were times when he just wanted to shake his head, wondering what in the world my problem was, but he had the patience of Job when it came to his athletes.
I look back and marvel at Tom's generous and easy-going nature. After Bunny (his wife at the time) saw me at a gymnastics camp in Lithonia, Georgia, then watched my parents drive me back and forth once a month from Florida to train with Fred Martinez, she talked Tom into inviting me to live with them so I could train full time and try to make the '76 Olympic team. They were young and newly married with dreams of opening their own gymnastics school one day and now they had a 15 1/2 year old, for whom they served as surrogate parents. Tom drove me to school every morning in his little yellow sports car (he looked like a kid himself) and Bunny picked me up to take me to gym. Starting serious training so late, I was a long shot to make the team, but they did everything humanly possible over the next year and a half to at least give me the chance. I just missed making the team and subsequently moved away to train for the next few years at clubs in Louisiana and Chicago. Though I had great gymnastics success, it came with a lot of personal trauma. My return to Atlanta was crucial as Tom and Bunny picked up the pieces of a broken dream and nurtured me back into training. They saved me from tumbling into a deep abyss and kept believing in me and my ability to continue training and competing at the highest level. Without them I would never have made my first Olympic team in 1980 or continued well into my twenties to compete at two subsequent World Championships and finally the '84 Olympics in Los Angeles. The depth of their commitment to and love for me sustained me through immeasurably difficult times and in the end gave me the happiest times of my career.
Tom traveled with me to meets in Europe where we enjoyed both gymnastics success and seeing the world. I was so proud to have him by my side as he was always liked and well-respected. I was as happy as anyone could be, living and training in Atlanta. I had coaches who loved me and took great care of me. I was coaching a great group of kids. Having made the 1980 team I could have been satisfied and content knowing that I was at an age when most gymnasts had long since retired. After a lengthy rehab from injury, I was sliding comfortably into retirement with a year and a half to go before the next Olympics. Somehow I just didn't feel finished or "complete" so I kept training...but not very well. True to his near-perfect nature, Tom agreed (so did Bunny) that I needed to make a change...go train alongside other Olympic caliber athletes at the national team coach's gym, SCATS in Los Angeles. The longest, most painful drive I've ever taken was when Tom drove me to the airport with two giant trunks in tow. I had never seen Tom cry so when I saw his shoulders shaking from the back of the van I just dropped my head and cried, too. I wanted desperately to say, "Turn around...go back...I'm not going...I can't leave", but I kept quiet somehow. I don't think I could bare hearing the crack in his voice. When we pulled up to the airport he simply got out of the van and hugged me and said without hesitation, "You're doing the right thing. You can always come back...we're here. Call anytime you need." My heart broke, but I believed him.
My heart is broken again. Tom deserved many more years with his family. They deserved to have him with them. The world would be an even better place with him in it...my life sure was. Thank God he is so memorable. His cheshire cat grin and smiling eyes won't ever be forgotten, least not by me. Not ever!
Kathy Johnson Clarke
Posted In: Programs
Tom Cook touched so many lives as a coach, friend and mentor. I would be happy to share my thoughts, as he will always be so incredibly special to me and one of my favorite people on Earth. For anyone who knew Tom they will tell you about his incredible red hair, his warm smile, the twinkling green eyes that went with the grin, as well as his gentle and sweet demeanor (rare in the coaching world). Indeed, those qualities made him special to all of us, but he was so much more. He could stay remarkably calm in stressful situations and, amazingly, he could readily deal with the emotional fragility of a female athlete. I'm certain there were times when he just wanted to shake his head, wondering what in the world my problem was, but he had the patience of Job when it came to his athletes.
I look back and marvel at Tom's generous and easy-going nature. After Bunny (his wife at the time) saw me at a gymnastics camp in Lithonia, Georgia, then watched my parents drive me back and forth once a month from Florida to train with Fred Martinez, she talked Tom into inviting me to live with them so I could train full time and try to make the '76 Olympic team. They were young and newly married with dreams of opening their own gymnastics school one day and now they had a 15 1/2 year old, for whom they served as surrogate parents. Tom drove me to school every morning in his little yellow sports car (he looked like a kid himself) and Bunny picked me up to take me to gym. Starting serious training so late, I was a long shot to make the team, but they did everything humanly possible over the next year and a half to at least give me the chance. I just missed making the team and subsequently moved away to train for the next few years at clubs in Louisiana and Chicago. Though I had great gymnastics success, it came with a lot of personal trauma. My return to Atlanta was crucial as Tom and Bunny picked up the pieces of a broken dream and nurtured me back into training. They saved me from tumbling into a deep abyss and kept believing in me and my ability to continue training and competing at the highest level. Without them I would never have made my first Olympic team in 1980 or continued well into my twenties to compete at two subsequent World Championships and finally the '84 Olympics in Los Angeles. The depth of their commitment to and love for me sustained me through immeasurably difficult times and in the end gave me the happiest times of my career.
Tom traveled with me to meets in Europe where we enjoyed both gymnastics success and seeing the world. I was so proud to have him by my side as he was always liked and well-respected. I was as happy as anyone could be, living and training in Atlanta. I had coaches who loved me and took great care of me. I was coaching a great group of kids. Having made the 1980 team I could have been satisfied and content knowing that I was at an age when most gymnasts had long since retired. After a lengthy rehab from injury, I was sliding comfortably into retirement with a year and a half to go before the next Olympics. Somehow I just didn't feel finished or "complete" so I kept training...but not very well. True to his near-perfect nature, Tom agreed (so did Bunny) that I needed to make a change...go train alongside other Olympic caliber athletes at the national team coach's gym, SCATS in Los Angeles. The longest, most painful drive I've ever taken was when Tom drove me to the airport with two giant trunks in tow. I had never seen Tom cry so when I saw his shoulders shaking from the back of the van I just dropped my head and cried, too. I wanted desperately to say, "Turn around...go back...I'm not going...I can't leave", but I kept quiet somehow. I don't think I could bare hearing the crack in his voice. When we pulled up to the airport he simply got out of the van and hugged me and said without hesitation, "You're doing the right thing. You can always come back...we're here. Call anytime you need." My heart broke, but I believed him.
My heart is broken again. Tom deserved many more years with his family. They deserved to have him with them. The world would be an even better place with him in it...my life sure was. Thank God he is so memorable. His cheshire cat grin and smiling eyes won't ever be forgotten, least not by me. Not ever!
Kathy Johnson Clarke
Posted In: Programs