When More Than One Newspaper Is Needed – The John M. Foy Fatal Auto Accident

Newspaper reports and articles often provide rich texture about the lives of our ancestors. Newspapers not only informed our ancestors of world and civic events they were living through but they served as the social media for generations who would not know about the events in the lives of family, associates and neighbours due to time, distance and restricted transportation opportunities. The local newspaper kept them up-to-date with the social life of their community.

I have recently dedicated some time to deepening my research into my wife’s California ancestors. While most of that research was targeted at Ellen’s grandmother Martha ‘Mattie’ Diona Knox and her parents Thomas Elliott Knox and Amy Squires, I devoted some time to looking at the Squires family.

John Squires is Ellen’s 2X great grandfather. John and his wife Mary James were both born in England. It was also in England that they married and had their eight children – four boys and four girls. In 1873, John and Mary packed up the kids and sailed from Liverpool to New York City where John found work as a bricklayer. Sometime during the 1870’s, the family made its way to Berkeley, California where they put down roots. John worked as a brick mason and eventually rose to some prominence through civic duty as the tax collector for Berkeley.

The children of John and Mary did well in California and each of their four daughters married prosperous, successful men. Oldest daughter Emily married Charles Wiggin, a successful electrical company manager. Amy married Tom Knox, a pioneer vineyard proprietor and civic leader. Emma married John Foy, son of a San Bernardino pioneer, civic leader and wealthy capitalist. The youngest daughter Olive married Frank Naylor, who became President of the First National Bank of Berkeley.

In the early twentieth century, the family was living the ‘American Dream.’

That dream was shattered however on a pleasant Friday afternoon in July 1915.

Newspapers in Oakland and San Francisco scrambled to report on the tragic events of that Friday, July 2nd. The newspapers in more distant San Bernardino were also interested in reporting due to the pioneer family connection of John Foy. But just like today’s social media, it took some time and multiple newspaper reports for the story to out.

The Oakland Tribune, July 2, 1915, reported in large front page headlines “Two Killed, Three Are Hurt In Auto Accident On Dublin Boulevard Today.”  The Tribune story reported that John M. Foy, former Secretary of the State Harbor Commission and capitalist was killed along with his mother-in-law Mrs. John Squires in an auto accident. All of the newspaper reports got that part right. It was the remaining details that would have caused anxious moments for the Squires family members.

The auto accident victims as depicted in the July 3, 1915 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle

The auto accident victims as depicted in the July 3, 1915 edition of the San Francisco Chronicle

Some reports had only four passengers in the auto at the time of the accident; others correctly reported that their were five passengers. One of the passengers, John Foy’s son Frederick, either 9-years or 10-years old at the time, depending on the report you read, was described as being “probably fatally hurt.”

Through a minimum of eight different newspaper reports, the following story emerges:

John Macy Foy was driving his ‘machine’ along the Dublin road, enroute to Livermore, California to visit Tom and Amy Squires Knox. John had four passengers in the car with him: his wife Emma and their son Fred as well as his mother-in-law Mary James Squires and his sister-in-law Emily Squires Wiggins. As they neared Dublin, California, John was unable to navigate a sharp curve in the road and lost control of the vehicle which then rolled down an embankment. John Foy and his mother-in-law Mary Squires were killed instantly.

Young Fred Foy, likely seated in the back seat of the car, probably with his mother Emma and his aunt Emily, was initially reported as being near death. It was later reported that he suffered a broken leg and probably internal injuries leaving him in a precarious condition in a Livermore hospital. Finally, it was reported that he suffered a sprained ankle and an abrasion to his knee.

The Squires sisters, Emma and Emily, were reported as having having “escaped with slight injuries.” It was later reported that they were badly bruised in the car accident.

Thomas Knox was the first family member to arrive at the accident scene to provide assistance. He escorted the victims back to nearby Livermore where they were joined by Frank Naylor.

Funerals for John Foy and Mary Squires were held in Berkelely, California on Monday, July 5th. An inquest jury later determined that the deaths resulted from an “unavoidable accident” and that the deaths were “due to shock caused by spinal injuries.”

The lesson to be learned – keep digging. That first, maybe juicy story may not provide the whole picture but only one angle on the story of your family. The truth of a story sometimes takes a bit of time to emerge.

Abide With Me – The Funeral Records of the Knox Family

A singer named Marshall sang two hymns.

Marshall was accompanied by ‘Mrs. McC’ on the organ while singing Abide With Me and Sometime We’ll Understand.

So says the funeral records that I have received describing the final arrangements for Thomas Elliott Knox, his wife Amy Squires Knox, and a grandson Arthur Knox.

I have come to know a lot about Thomas E. ‘Tom” Knox, my wife’s great grandfather, from years of researching his life. Most of the records about Tom describe his life of public service. He served as Postmaster and then Mayor of Livermore, California. He served as an Alameda County Supervisor and was active in his community. Politically, he was a Republican and through his political activity was at minimum an acquaintance of future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren. In business, Tom was a contractor and one of the early proprietors of a California vineyard.

Thomas Elliott Knox (photo taken abt. 1923 during visit to orillia, Ontario, Canada)

Thomas Elliott Knox (photo taken abt. 1923 during visit to Orillia, Ontario, Canada)

Tom was a thin, sharp featured man who was born in Seaforth, Huron County, Canada West (now Ontario) about 1854. It’s likely through the following of employment opportunities that found Tom arriving in California around 1875 where a few years later he would marry Amy Squires, a native of England who had immigrated to California with her parents and siblings in 1873.

Recently I came across an announcement of Tom’s death in a newspaper that the years of research had not previously found. The San Francisco Chronicle reported his death on January 30, 1938 in a page 14 article entitled “Knox, Alameda County Civic Leader, Expires.” On January 31st the Oakland Tribune ran a similar article and on February 1st, the San Francisco Chronicle followed up with an article about the funeral arrangements. The articles gave the name of the funeral home where the arrangements had been made – “the Grant D. Miller chapel, 2850 Telegraph avenue, Oakland.”

A Google search found that the funeral company was still in existence, now as the Grant Miller Mortuary, and operating from the same address in Oakland. The mortuary’s website provided an email address and following a quick exchange of messages, the mortuary sent me the family funeral records (for a small fee, well, actually not quite so small once the currency exchange rate was factored in).

When Tom died in 1938, his widow Amy made the arrangements with the mortuary. The funeral record provides Tom’s date and place of birth, date, place and cause of death in addition to his occupation and the address of the family residence. In addition to the organist and singing of the two hymns, the record details that the funeral was held on February 1st, 1938 at 3:30 p.m. A car was to pick up the family at their 300 Elwood Avenue residence at 3:00 p.m. The cost of the funeral, including the size 6/3, model number 17 casket, was $132.41 (about $2,250 in today’s dollars).

When Amy Knox subsequently passed away five years later in 1943, the arrangements were again made through the Grant Miller Mortuary. There was no singer hired for the funeral service however Mrs. McClusky, whom I believe to be the same organist from Tom’s funeral then identified as ‘Mrs. McC’, played the organ. A limo was dispatched to pick up the family from their 300 Elwood Avenue home at 2:00 p.m. on November 23rd, 1943, the day of the funeral. The service began at 3:00 p.m. An interesting note in the funeral record for Amy is that no hearse was available to transport the casket after the funeral service so an ambulance was used. Cost for this funeral was $249.91 (or about $3,450 in today’s dollars).

Although funeral records may not contain a lot of new genealogical details, they do provide an additional layer of family history allowing us to observe how our ancestors dealt with one of life’s more troubling and difficult occasions, saying farewell to a loved one. And these records may be available for the asking (and the paying of that small (?) fee).

Mattie Diona (Knox) Latimer – Seeing The Fullness Of Her Life Through Newspapers

To some, she was Granny; to others, she was Mom; to all, she was known as Mattie.

Mattie Diona (Knox) Latimer

Mattie Diona (Knox) Latimer

Mattie’s grandchildren knew that she was from California but as she didn’t talk very much about herself not much was known about her early life. Newspapers, the social media of 100 years ago, filled in the blanks, painting the picture of an outgoing, independent and spirited young woman, one who lived within the acceptable social boundaries of her times but who wasn’t afraid to push those boundaries.

Mattie was born in 1884, the first child of Thomas ‘Tom’ Elliott Knox and his wife of two years Amy Jane Squires. Both Tom and Amy were immigrants to California. Tom hailed from the village of Seaforth, in southwest Ontario, Canada and Amy had moved as a child with her family to California from her native England.

Mattie lived with her parents in Livermore, California where her father provided a comfortable lifestyle through his work as a plasterer, mason, and eventually contractor. She had no Knox relatives nearby but her mother’s family, the Squires lived in Berkeley, California.

Mattie first appears in the newspapers at the age of five, listed as guest, along with her parents, at the wedding of her aunt Emily Squires to Charles Wiggin on August 20, 1890. The wedding took place in the home of her maternal grandparents in Berkeley.

The newspapers report that Mattie visited her Squires grandparents at least annually, with references to such visits appearing in 1897 and 1898. In August of 1898, Mattie was in Berkeley again but to attend the 10th birthday party for her cousin Hazel Foy, the daughter of Amy’s sister Emma. A number of Mattie’s aunts supervised the picnic party that was highlighted by each child receiving a flag button, something considered to be a big deal at the time.

On March 11, 1901, the Oakland Tribune reported that Mattie and her friend Annie Wagoner were the only two graduating students to make the elementary school honour roll. It is not yet known what role academics may have played in Mattie’s high school experience but it is known that she made the high school girl’s basketball team as a starter along with elementary school friend Annie Wagoner. Mattie’s best friend Albertine Bernal made the team as a substitute.

Mattie’s family was doing well through this time. On February 11, 1903, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Mattie’s father as Postmaster for Livermore. The appointment became official on February 16, 1903. Thomas Knox would later be elected as Mayor of Livermore and subsequently he served as a Supervisor for Alameda County.

According to published reports, Mattie continued her visits to Berkeley through trips in July 1903, March 1904 when uncle Harry Squires was ill, and July 1904. Mattie also is reported to have won the prize for the “most original design of decoration” in the annual Livermore 4th of July parade. Mattie’s design involved “a gigantic California poppy with a lady seated in the center.”

As Mattie entered her twenties, she was experiencing a world beginning to rumble with change, especially for women. The suffragette movement was taking hold and fashions for women were changing. While Mattie continued to visit her Squires relatives in Berkeley, a shift can be seen in her activities. She was entertaining her friends at her parental home in Livermore and not just travelling to visit relatives.

In June 1905, on the same page that Oakland Tribune reports Mattie entertaining her friend Lillian Symmes, the newspaper also reports the U.S. government ordering the destruction of hundreds of pictures of President Theodore Roosevelt taken while the President was on a hunting trip in Colorado because of the objectionable dress of a correspondent who was present in the photos named Gertrude Dunn. Miss Dunn’s objectionable attire, specifically was “where the skirt should have been was a pair of very pretty ankles.”

June of 1905 also saw Mattie venturing further away from home and travelling with a friend to Canada. It is not reported but it is likely that Mattie ventured into Ontario, possibly to visit with members of her father’s Knox family.

No sooner had Mattie returned from her trip to Canada then she was off again, this time travelling to Berkeley with her school days friend Annie Wagoner but now doing the approximately 40 mile trip on horseback through the mountainous terrain.

The year 1906 was pivotal for Mattie. She continued her civic activities through attending meetings of the Native Daughters of the Golden West and she continued to travel to Berkeley to visit her relatives. On June 9, 1906 Mattie went camping for a few days with friends, including best friend Albertine Bernal, a trip highlighted by an earthquake. Also, during the summer of 1906, Mattie’s engagement to Edward Arthur Latimer was announced.

In September 1906 a surprise linen bridal shower was held “when a large number of friends assembled at the residence of Miss Emma Smith and went in a body to the home of the bride-to-be and literally showered her with gifts.” According to the newspaper report, Mattie “soon recovered her equanimity and entertained her friends royally.”

On November 9, 1906, the Oakland Tribune reported that a marriage license had been issued for Edward A. Latimer, 28, of Orillia (Ontario, Canada) and Martha D. Knox, 21, of Livermore. The same newspaper provided a report of the wedding in its November 18, 1906 edition:

Mattie Diona (Knox) Latimer as pictured in the Oakland Tribune alongside the report of her wedding to Edward Latimer

Mattie Diona (Knox) Latimer as pictured in the Oakland Tribune alongside the report of her wedding to Edward Latimer in 1906

“On Saturday evening, November 10, Edwin [Edward] Arthur Latimer and Mattie Diona Knox were united in marriage at the home of the bride’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas E. Knox on L street in the pretty town of Livermore, by the Rev. Mr. J. B. Stone, of the Presbyterian church.”

As Miss Dollie McKown played Lohengrin’s wedding march, Mattie entered her parent’s living room wearing a white messaline gown trimmed in lace and carrying a bouquet of roses. Mattie was accompanied by her long-time best friend and maid of honour Albertine Bernal. About fifty guests, including all of Mattie’s Squires grandparents, aunts and uncles traveled from Berkeley to Livermore to attend the wedding.

While she may not have been perceived as a young, attractive, outgoing socialite in her twilight years, the newspapers tell the story of a Granny Mattie that she never told.

52 Ancestors: Jack Becomes A Los Angeles Millionaire

I have, admittedly, been delinquent in continuing the story about John Osborne (Jack) Filkin, my wife’s uncle through marriage and, in his younger days, a professional hockey player. This is Part 3 in a four part series about Jack Filkin. You can read the previous two parts of this story here:


Jack grew up in small town Ontario, Canada. Here he learned to play hockey, and play it at a high level. In an era before the blades of hockey sticks were curved, Jack played with a standard straight-bladed hockey stick. With that straight blade, Jack developed the unique skill of being able to shoot the puck either left handed or right handed.

At five feet, eleven inches in height and one hundred seventy-five pounds, Jack would have been considered a big winger, even a force to be reckoned with.

In 1929, the general managers of the professional hockey teams had no farm systems from which to draw for the big league team. They needed to scour hockey leagues looking for young talent. 

When the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL) were looking for new talent, according to press reports, they were “told of” Jack who was “known in the Maple Leaf country as Goal-a-Game Filkin, this because he has averaged a goal every game since he began donning the steel blades in league competition.”

The 1929-30 season didn’t work out as hoped for. Jack attended the New York Rangers training camp and was sent to the New York Rangers’ Canadian-American Hockey League affiliate team the Springfield (Massachusetts) Indians. Although Jack was a fan favourite, his goal scoring touch was missing. He recorded just one goal and one assist while spending 30 minutes in the penalty box.

Following the hockey season, Jack returned to his Ontario home. In Toronto, he was known as Police Constable Filkin, Badge Number 788. In that first ‘off-season’ of 1930, Jack managed to take time off of his ‘beat’ to marry Hazel Latimer.


John Osborne ‘Jack’ Filkin, 1929-30 Springfield (Massachusetts) Indians 
newspaper photo clipping 
(Newspaper source and date of publication unknown)


On November 10, 1930, it was back to hockey for Jack. But this time, Jack was on his way to play hockey in California where his professional contract had been purchased. Jack was going to be a Los Angeles Millionaire.

There does not appear to be a compiled listing of the statistics from the California Hockey League available for the year that Jack played there (1930-31). However, a review of the press clippings available to me strongly suggests that Jack’s scoring touch had definitely returned, with numerous multiple goal games reported.

Hazel joined Jack in Los Angeles and, together, they were able to connect with Hazel’s aunts, uncles, and cousins in the Knox and Squires families. Hazel’s mother, Mattie Diona (Knox) Latimer was from California and had left the state the day after she married her Canadian husband, Edward Latimer, in 1906.


Hazel (Latimer) Filkin
(Original privately held)


The year of 1931 brought about more change for Jack. Maybe it was because of his goal scoring success in California, maybe it was because of team requirements, or maybe it was a combination of both but, whatever the reason, Jack’s professional hockey contract was purchased again by another team. 

Jack was gong to spend his third season as a Philadelphia Arrow. He did not know it when he crossed the U.S.-Canada border in the Fall of 1931 that the 1931-32 hockey season would be his last.

The Death of Tom Knox As Told By His Sister-in-Law Emily Squires in Her Diary

Thomas Elliott Knox was an interesting figure in the history of California and my wife’s family history. Photos that I have found of Thomas, from newspaper articles or those that were held and preserved by the family, always show him as a rather starched, dignified individual. I have always, through the years that I have researched Ellen’s family, referred to him rather formally as ‘Thomas Elliott Knox.’ It is a bit hard for me then to see him referred to as “Tom,” but that, as it turns out, is exactly how he was known to his family.


Three-year old Olive Theresa Evelyn ‘Tess’ Latimer (Ellen’s mother) stands between 
her grandparents Edward Nelson ‘Ned’ Latimer (on the left), 
Amy Squires Knox (centre) and 
Thomas Elliott ‘Tom’ Knox (on the right)


On 19 October 1882, Tom, a native of Huron County (and likely, more specifically, the village of Seaforth), Ontario, Canada, married Amy Jane Knox, a native of Chesterfield, England, in California. Tom was plasterer by trade and had worked his way to California as a young man presumably to find his fortune. Amy had immigrated to California with her parents and seven known siblings as a young girl. Amy’s older sister Emily kept a diary and that diary tells the story of Tom’s death in a way that can’t be captured by a newspaper article. 

Emily Squires’ diary entries show life as it was during a time before the conveniences of automation, gadgetry, and mobile devices. In early 1938, the highlights in her day that she wrote about in her diary included social events, writing, posting and receiving mail, having clothing made, mended and adjusted, and of course, the household finances. She also recorded the health status of family members. The following are my transcripts of extracts from her diary entries:

Wednesday, January 19, 1938

…Tom and Amy are both laid up with heavy colds….

Thursday, January 20, 1938

…Tom & Amy both laid up with colds….

Friday, January 21, 1938

…Tom not so well….

Saturday, January 22, 1938

…Tom suffering from cramps in stomach. They sent for Dr. Hamlin, and he called an ambulance & had him go to hosp. pronto. They fear pneumonia.

Sunday, January 23, 1938

…Tom is in a pneumonia jacket, has been x rayed, but they do not know just what is causing the trouble.

Monday, January 24, 1938

… Tom about the same. Doctor would operate if he were younger & see what it is all about….

Tuesday, January 25, 1938

..Olive and Leila went to see Tom at Prov. Hosp. [Providence Hospital in Oakland, California] this afternoon. I wrote Will & Nellie about him this eve….

Wednesday, January 26, 1938

…Tom seemed weaker to-day….

Thursday, January 27, 1938

Tom has pneumonia and seems to be growing weaker….

Friday, January 28, 1938

…Tom is weaker, and was given a serum this noon, & no visitors allowed. Amy went to Y M [?] to tell me….

Saturday, January 29, 1938

…Dude [Tom and Amy’s youngest son] & Amy were with Tom until 11 last night, and were called at 8:30 this A.M. Has been in a comatose condition all day. Practically no hope….

Sunday, January 30, 1938

…poor old Tom went to heaven about eleven o’clock this morning. I hope his spirit has already found Art’s. [I believe this is a reference to Arthur Squires Knox, Tom’s son who died in 1928] I went to church & heard Dr. Zwemer talk on Islam. Wonderful speaker. Talked with Mr. & Mrs. Davenport and walked home with Auntie. The Beebes and Mrs. Jackson were with Amy & Dude. Amy asked me to write to Mattie & break the news. I also wrote to Mary, Marion, Gertrude Jordan and Ella McCul. Note in S. F. Chronicle of Tom’s illness.

Tues, February 1, 1938 (The Funeral)

…Linden took Olive, Emma & myself to Grant Miller’s. [Grant Miller Mortuary, 2850 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland] Almost all the family was there – all except Ed & May, Nellie, and our children in the East & at Sacramento. Tom looked handsome.

[Note: A special thanks to Squires cousin, Pam Marino for sharing her great grandmother Emily Squires’ diary pages.] 

Great Grandaunt Emily Visits The Latimer Family In Canada

It was the Spring of 1933 when Emily (Squires) Wiggin set off on a trip around the continental United States and Canada. A year earlier, Emily became a widow when her husband Charles died in their home state of California. This trip would take her from the Pacific to the Atlantic and then north through Canada on her return home. The trip would also include a two-day visit in Orillia, Ontario to see how her niece, Mattie (Knox) Latimer was getting along.

(from left to right, Knox Latimer, Emily (Squires) Wiggin, Mattie (Knox) Latimer, and Albertine Latimer)


Mattie was the oldest child and only daughter of Emily’s older sister Amy (Squires) Knox. Amy and her husband Thomas were solid fixtures in California where Thomas had served for many years as Postmaster and Mayor of Livermore and then as a County Supervisor.  Mattie had not remained in California however, moving to Canada soon after marrying Edward Latimer in 1906.

Fortunately, Emily kept a diary of her trip and so we learn directly from her that on Saturday, May 6, 1933, she arrived in Toronto at 7:45 a.m. to a downpour where she was welcomed and greeted by Charlotte (Latimer) Mullett, the sister of Edward Latimer, Charlotte’s daughter Doris Mullett, and Albertine ‘Abby’ Latimer, Edward and Mattie’s eldest child who would accompany Aunt Emily to Orillia for her visit.

(left to right, Tess Latimer, Albertine ‘Abby’ Latimer, Emily (Squires) Wiggin, and Mattie (Knox) Latimer)


After a breakfast of coffee and toast, Aunt Emily and Abby reached Orillia by train around noon where they were met by Abby’s brother Knox Latimer. As Emily described the visit, “After dinner with Mattie and family, who all gave me a warm welcome, we went through a nearby hospital, then Knox took us, Mattie, Tess [Tess was Ellen’s mother Olive Theresa Evelyn (Latimer) Wagner] and me for a ride in a truck to a Park and Statue of Champlain…Hazel and Jack also came over to see me. Had a most enjoyable day.”

(Edward Knox Latimer, May 1933, Orillia, Ontario)

It sounds like it was also a tiring day, for in her entry for Sunday, May 7th, Emily starts off with, “Everybody slept late, but all were on hand for dinner. Ed [referring to Mattie’s husband Edward Latimer] not so hilarious today as yesterday.”  Following a Sunday afternoon drive around the town of Orillia to see the sites, Emily caught the 7:10 p.m. train back to Toronto where she purchased some post cards and her train ticket to Vancouver. After commenting in her diary that “Albertine was lovely and invaluable,” she “went to bed right away on the train and slept well.”

(Olive Theresa Evelyn ‘Tess’ Latimer, aged 13, May 1933, Orillia, Ontario)


Finally, my sincere thanks to Ellen’s cousin Pam Marino of Jamestown, California for the previously unseen by us photos and diary pages for which she granted permission for me to share with other family members through this post!

The Berkely, California Squires


Thomas Elliott Knox and Amy Jane Squires arrived in the Oakland, Alameda, California vicinity around the same time. Thomas arrived from Seaforth, Ontario, Canada and Amy (pictured on the right) from Sheffield, England around 1875. Thomas, a young plasterer, arrived on his own, perhaps the death of his father and namesake motivating him to leave home in Ontario. Amy arrived with her parents, John and Mary (nee James) Squires and her three sisters and four brothers. While Thomas settled in Oakland, the Squires settled in nearby Berkely.

They were there to see the first telephone service be installed in the area around 1882 and likely worked on the development and construction of housing tracts and business districts that encroached on the surrounding farmland.

According to an October 1932 article in the Oakland Tribune newspaper highlighting the celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary, Thomas, or ‘Tom’ as he was often called, met Amy through a business deal with her father. I susepect that Thomas, the plasterer, and John, a brickmason, met each other while working on the same construction site. No matter how they met, Thomas and Amy, my wife Ellen’s great grandparents, were married in 1882 and moved to Livermore where Thomas rose to civic prominence, first as a pioneer vineyard owner and later as town postmaster, and Mayor. In all, Thomas spent 16 years as a member of the board of trustees, 13 years as postmaster, and three years as a member of the county board of supervisors.

Amy’s father, John Squires also involved himself in civic duties becoming one of the first Berkely town treasurers and tax collectors prior to his death in 1914. John’s son, Harry followed in his father’s footsteps holding the post of city assessor for many years. Amy Squires’ sisters also married men of some public prominence. Her sister Emma married John M. Foy who was the Secretary for the State Board of Harbor Commissioners and her sister Olive married Frank L. Naylor, the son of Addison Naylor, President of the First National Bank of Berkely. Frank would work his way up through the banking business to succeed his father as bank president by 1920.

All in all, they formed an impressive group of men and women who contributed to the early growth and prosperity of the Oakland, California area.

As for Amy, when interviewed about the secret to a long and happy marriage, she answered, “Men like comfort. And I’ve never been too busy to see that things were just right for Tom.”