Ode To Tom Maher

I'm very sad to report that Tom Maher–my dear friend, mentor and former NU managing editor–passed away on Feb. 13 at the age of 77. I took over Tom's position in 1986 when he left to pursue a second career as a freelance writer and marketing consultant. I would never have been promoted without Toms support and mentoring, and we remained close friends for over 26 years, swapping stories about baseball and insurance with equal enthusiasm. Read on to learn more about this remarkable person, and feel free to join other friends and former colleagues in reminiscing in the comment section below.

Tom Maher was the first to greet me when I joined National Underwriter back in 1981, offering to clue me in on the real story behind the scenes in the industry and our company over beers at Macks & Jacks, the local watering hole.

Working with Tom and the gang back then was like stepping onto the set of The Front Page, the play and movie about classic newspapermencynical about authority and dedicated to exposing shenanigans large and small. Tom was a real character, as well as a gentleman of extraordinary character.

Tom, a dead ringer for actor William Devane, was a stand-up guy who would do anything for a friend. He was old schoolalways putting in an honest days work, and respectful of anyone who did the same.

Tom was also a riot. His humormost often self-deprecatingwas sarcastic but never mean-spirited. While he did not suffer fools gladly, he reserved his rapier wit to skewer those who had it comingquick to puncture the hypocrisy of blowhards, whether in the government, the industry or our own magazine.

Tom was a dandy middle infielder in his youth who confessed he lacked a major league arm, but there was never anything minor league about his ability to pitch a story.

Our longtime Marketing Scene columnist was the expert on life in the mythical kingdom of what he liked to call Insurancedom, reporting on how the industry spun its message. His funny and insightful commentary was often worth the price of an NU subscription by itself.

He was kind to a fault, always decent, ever caring, and ready with whatever you needed–whether it was career advice or just a biting joke to lighten your mood. He was also a devoted family man, leaving behind a wonderful wife, Kathleen, and three great kids–Tommy, Kathryn and Shawn–and six grandchildren who thought of him as “Mr. Met.”

(Raised in Chicago as a diehard Cubs fan, he reconciled himself to Mets fandom with his long life in New York–although I imagine his only regret is perhaps not seeing the Cubs win a World Series. In an ironic twist he would have greatly appreciated, his funeral took place at Shea Place in New Rochelle, quite appropriate given all the happy times he spent at Shea Stadium.)

When I posted my Ode To John Cosgrove, a former NU editor, a couple of years back, Tom Maher noted that while we mourn those who have passed on, we especially remember those who left us laughing. He could just as easily have been talking about himself.

To reminisce further about Tom Maher, feel free to join other friends and former colleagues in posting your thoughts on the comments section below.