9 September 2024

By Greg Denieffe, Gavin Jamieson and Gary Ahrens

HTBS writer Greg Denieffe, Gavin Jamieson, author of Water’s Gleaming Gold: The Story of Hugh ‘Jumbo’ Edwards, and Gary Ahrens, a school chum from Phillips Academy – Andover remember Tom Weil.

Greg Denieffe writes:

Thomas Eliot Weil, or simply TEW, or just Tom, has crost the bar and his death has left a cavernous hole among the circle of rowing collectors and historians of which he was the undisputed chief. He wore many caps during his short dash from 1948 to 2024, all of which he wore with pride and expertise. There was one cap that he wore with unbridled joy – his Yale crew cap with the number 70 embroidered either side of the Yale crest.

My first meeting with Tom was at the 2007 Rowing History Forum in Henley. During the day I approached him to sign my copy of Beauty and the Boats: art and artistry in early British Rowing illustrated from the Thomas E. Weil Collection. But Tom wasn’t the sort to just sign a book and move on. Introduction over, we moved on to discuss one of the prints in the catalogue, one called ‘Brian Boru Esq.’ from 1822. This lead us down the Irish history rabbit hole, and Tom regaled me with a tale of his trip to Ireland in 1970 to race at Dublin Metropolitan Regatta in Blessington. He eventually signed the book: “To Greg, with best wishes and an incentive to learn more about Irish rowing (other than Brian Boru).” Many years later, I purchased an original copy of the print, and it now has more than a special place in my collection.

Over the years, we met in person only a handful of times, but personal and group emails meant we were in contact often and a “nice piece” message from him was more than enough reward for hours spent writing something for HTBS.

I will be forever grateful to Tom for making me feel at home in the rather small world of keepers of rowing memorabilia and for his tip-offs when something he thought might interest me came on the market, one of which paid off handsomely last year.

For sure, Tom was some man for one man, and the best that we can do to honour his memory is to take a leaf out of his book, well F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, and beat on, boats against the current, and continue his work of retrieving, preserving, celebrating and preaching rowing history.

By Gavin Jamieson:

To write a book is daunting. To write your first book, on a sport that you have never participated in and with the pressures of a family connection, is even more so. When I completed the first draft of my book Water’s Gleaming Gold: The Story of Hugh ‘Jumbo’ Edwards I reached out to several rowing historians to assist me in reviewing my initial efforts. Everyone that I contacted in the rowing community was so supportive of the book from first draft to publication. The advice and amendments I received were invaluable. The manuscript went through several drafts and when I received the first page proofs I sent these to Tom for review. I knew that if I could obtain Tom’s seal of approval then my fears as a first-time author would lessen considerably.

On first contacting Tom, he joyfully recounted a fond memory he had of meeting my wife’s grandfather and the subject of my book – Jumbo Edwards. This was in 1970, and Tom was part of the Yale lightweight crew entered for the Thames Challenge Cup at Henley: “Jumbo was a bit in his cups at that point in the afternoon, and when he graciously agreed to inscribe my copy of The Way of a Man with a Blade, his fist ripped the page from the book while he was writing. The scotch tape that I used to put it back in place has become a bit tattered over the last half century, but the memory, which was one of the highlights of our time there, is quite clear and very much enjoyed! The book is one of the treasures of my collection”.

Tom provided so many helpful comments and corrected me on more than a few errors that I had let slip through onto the proofs. Without Tom’s constant help and encouragement, the book would not have done justice to the memory of Jumbo and his extraordinary life. I will always be in debt to Tom’s guidance and he kindly sent me a photograph of Water’s Gleaming Gold sitting proudly alongside his signed copy of The Way of a Man with a Blade on his bookshelf. That photograph means the world to me.

Tom will be greatly missed by so many in the rowing community and beyond and I would like to send my condolences to all of his family and friends.

Gary Ahrens PA ’66 writes:

Tom and I were 1966 classmates at Phillips Academy – Andover where we both rowed for the boat club and shot for the rifle team. Over the last 10 years, we met many times at races involving Yale and Princeton. He deserved to live to 150.

Please let me know if there is an ongoing effort to find new exhibit space for Tom’s collection besides the artifacts he donated to the River and Rowing Museum in Henley. I think Tom has my son Chris’s port oar from Athens 2004.

I rowed in Milwaukee for many years with Tim Mickelson who was part of the crew who won at Lucerne in the “Martini” Achter in 1974.  I have heard it is not on display anymore at Mystic Seaport Museum.

The news of Tom’s death immediately cued me to reread Tennyson’s “Ulysses”. If there was ever a “wily Odysseus” of our epoch it was Tom.

Anyone who has some memories of Tom that they would like to share are welcome to publish it on this website. Please contact HTBS editor Göran Buckhorn at: gbuckhorn – at – gmail – dot – com