Visit WhistlingTom's web site and listen to his amazing recordings.
You may wonder what whistling has to do with the beach and why I’d be writing about a character named Whistling Tom.
One of the things you’ll notice when you hang around Florida’s coastal islands is that they attract all kinds of eccentric folks who are very successful at doing some fairly non-standard things.
I was at a small party Saturday evening and met a very friendly and entertaining fellow who calls himself Whistling Tom.
Tom regaled me with some brief snippets of his life, including his work as a professional photographer, a bartender, a charter boat captain in the Keys; living on an acre in the middle of Big Pine Key’s Key deer refuge, living aboard his 44 foot sailboat, whistling for the sunset crowd at Mallory Square, and performing as a professional whistler.
Tom’s whistling was featured in a commercial for Ford Motor Company, he appeared in the Documentary “Pucker Up: The Fine Art of Whistling,” and he often entertains in nursing homes and in front of groups, large and small.
He left me with this farewell: “If I don’t see you in the future, I’ll see you in the pasture…”
Whistling Tom has a CD of his recordings available on his web site.
Check it out.
