Tom Manship

fastpete

Re: [petemac] Re:Tom Manship

AE and Faspete are crying....our deepest condolenses to family and friends. TOM we met in Twin Falls and in Kjerag, you were super cool, and good friend. It was really nice to jump with you 2 ways and other stuff....i really rally miss you a lot...I´m lost of words now........................................................................................................

#844 Fu....ck the Finns !!!

base515

Re: [rendezvous] Tom Manship

In reply to: Hi Blair,
I'm very sorry to hear this. I had met Tom at Twin and climbed out with him once or twice. He was a nice guy. This is very sad. If possible, I would like to know how did this happened?

regards
Ankur
either pm me or base570, base704 or blair700

Zennie

Re: [blair700] Tom Manship

I'm at a total loss for words.

You were one of the good guys Tom, you'll be missed.

BSBD

blair700

Re: [rfarris] Tom Manship

In reply to:
I had the privilege of learning from Tom Manship, not just about BASE, but living your life to the fullest and having fun.
Rod,
me too bro, I feel Tom shared this with many folks. Rod, call me anytime, or come visit if you can get away.

Later
Blair

PS I attached a fav pic of mine with Tom, this was last NY (04-05) ......you know experience when you see who has their eyes closed during the pic....yea I saw lots of big black dots for several minutes afterwards....
2nd is of Turkey Day 2 years ago..... good times Rod

truckerbase

Re: [blair700] Tom Manship

Thanks for the attitude lessons, Tom. Relax now, the hard part is over.

I remember doing "hi-lows" with tom in texas when Rodney couldnt make it, riding the elevator to altitude, me trying to focus, him talking non stop the whole way up, then accidently leaning against the "stop" button. Thinking the elevator had hit its stop at the top, we took to the ladder to climb the "remaining" 50 feet, only to climb and climb and realize that we werent anywhere near the top of the 2000 footer, and had already sent the elevator down. His comment, "I dont climb. Im going from here"

Then, on landing we go over to the farris wheel and jump it. After landing, a large dually diesel comes roaring over the hill across the field, Tom and I hit the ground hiding in the high grass as this white truck roars across the field on one diagonal and then across on another, finally stopping like 50 feet from us, the son of the owner of the land who has seen us jump silihouetted against the moon in the dark. Tom stands up while Im pretending like I was just crossing the field as a shortcut, and says, "Yah, were just base jumping from the tower, wanna watch??

Direct and to the point, he always knew what he was doing.

****************************************

blair700

Re: [BASERigger] Tom Manship

Hey Blair,
I can't post.
Will you please post this under my name.

Tom always had the ability to make me laugh at the simplest stuff. His sense of humor was awsome. I have so much respect for him. Tom had a way of making the scariest jumps seem a little less scary. Especially jumping the potato span before it's light enough to see the water. It didn't matter if we were jumping or wearing out "The Outback Steakhouse", Tom always kept everyone entertained.
Tom was one of the nicest people I've ever known and today I got to meet his family and learned that his kindness runs in the family.
Thanks for all of the laughs and all of the wise advice.
I'll miss you buddy, You were one of the "good guys"
Tony Herring BASE 516
a.k.a. Base-Rigger

base515

Re: [blair700] Tom Manship

Tom was one of the nicest people I've ever known and today I got to meet his family and learned that his kindness runs in the family.
I agree, Toms family was extremely kind and gracious to the the jumpers that showed up at the Funeral today. His sister especially went out of her way to make us feel welcomed. A great group of people. Thanks to all the family members. I see where Tom got his kind heart from. It showed from his aunts down to his nephews, and everyone in between. They have my deepest condolences and sympathies and my upmost respect.
Sincerely
Mike Bartlett

nerdgirl

Re: Tom Manship

My condolences to Tom's family and loved ones.

I met Tom at the Potato Bridge in Oct 03. He has a cameo on my FJC video that never fails to make me smile. From a floater exit, he looks at the camera and asks "Do you want a count?" Upon getting an affirmative answer, Tom responds, "Okay, ... one" and jumps.

Blue skies,

Marg

Bigwallmaster

Post deleted by Bigwallmaster

JaapSuter

Re: [] Tom Manship

I didn't know Tom very well either, but I was very impressed when he remembered my name the second time I ran into him, five months after taking my first FJC. He came up to me, shook my hand and talked to me as one of the BASE jumpers instead of treating me like a beginner intruding the scene.

We never talked too much, but nonetheless I owe Tom a lot. When people ask me about BASE jumping, I often told them about this 58 year old guy I knew that wakes up at five AM every day and does three jumps and hikes before others even wake up.

It contributed to a different image of BASE than what most people think initially. And for that, I thank you Tom...

...for the fact that you were the great and friendly 58 year old guy that woke up at five AM every day and did three jumps and hikes before others even woke up.

Fly...

base570

Re: [base515] Tom Manship

In reply to: Tom was one of the nicest people I've ever known and today I got to meet his family and learned that his kindness runs in the family.
I agree, Toms family was extremely kind and gracious to the the jumpers that showed up at the Funeral today. His sister especially went out of her way to make us feel welcomed. A great group of people. Thanks to all the family members. I see where Tom got his kind heart from. It showed from his aunts down to his nephews, and everyone in between. They have my deepest condolences and sympathies and my upmost respect.
Sincerely
Mike Bartlett
I agree with everything Mike and Tony have stated above, Tom's entire family made us feel as though we were one of their family. This has been a very difficult few days... watching a friend go in and then having to meet with family members to explain what happened and why their loved one has died. You have no idea how they(the family) will receive you. Will they feel your pain and greef? Will they hate you and blame you for the accident? Will they scream and yell or listen and understand? These are just some of the questions going through yopur head before you have a meeting like this.
When Blair and I arrived at their home, they welcomed us with open arms. They felt our pain and we felt theirs, we laughed and cried. They felt no ill will towards us and that made it much easier to deal with. Which brings me to a point I would like to make...
Why do you think Tom's family was so understanding?

Part of the reason is because they knew what Tom loved to do. They have for a long time. I'm sure he had this talk http://www.dropzone.com/...487476=View+Threaded with his family long ago and they understood where he was coming from and accepted him for it. I could see that in their actions and words these last few days.
That being said, I URGE everyone who has not spoken with their families about their BASE jumping to do so as soon as possible. It will help both your family and friends deal with the grieving process and keep hard feelings at bay. And not cause any unecessary blame on jumpers, structure owners, athorities, etc.

One last thing I want to say is thank you to my 3 friends who were there. They all exhibited the kind of brotherhood you look for in a friend and BASE companion. They stood by each other through the good or bad, they came together as a team in rough times, everyone kept a cool head about themselves and dealt with the situation, and they also have been there for each other after the accident. I would gladly have them by my side in any battle having no reservations about whether or not they can handle the worst possible crisis... although I knew this beforehand, now it has been proven. Thank you Mike, Blair and TJ. Mark, I thank you too. You have gone above and beyond what you needed to do and i thank you just as the whole family does.
Also, Blair made a great speech today at the funeral on behalf of the jumping community. Maybe he'll post it, although I'm not sure if he wrote it out or not.

A quote used at Tom's service:(long version)
"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure."
Helen Keller

Nerdgirl: nice quote about Buddhism.
Tom was a Buddhist(how strict?? we'll never know) so if anyone is interested in their philosophy on life and death, here is a short essay.
http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma5/viewdeath.html
I think Tom was doing pretty good in the Karma department

I like this quote from the article"
"Just as a well spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings a happy death.
Leonardo Da Vinci

Miss you Tom...
Jason

send me your pictures of Tom (pm for address)

airmagic

Re: [base570] Tom Manship

Thank you. Thank you for your kind words and for taking a great man for everything he was worth.

Tom was a very dear friend of mine. In a skydiviving sense he was not only there for my first two-way, but also my first kiss pass, my first naked jump, my first beacon ride, my first PRO-rated demo, and my first tandem (from the instructor point-of-view). I have proudly owed a lot of beer because of that man.

Along with all of that, Tom and I made our first BASE jump together off the New River Gorge Brigde with the expertise of BASE 105 to guide us. I remember having long discussions in a bar beforehand about the danger of that first jump. I've got a precious picture of tom and me before the jump that tells the truth as to how he felt about the whole adventure. Who knew at that time where it would lead him....

The last time I saw tom was in Mexico. Ernie and I were not able to catch up with him at Twin because of our work schedules so we drove our Jeep to Mexico to see him jump the cave. We got to spend quite a bit of quality time with him there. He was a different man than I remembered. Self-assured and confident with his way of life. Something of an example to live by. I found it funny that some of the new BASE jumpers in the cave base group thought he was old and odd. Had they only known that he had finally found whatever he wanted in life.

Since then it seems that he had found a lot of commaderie in the BASE community. I am so happy that he once again picked up the role of mentor for those of you that wanted to learn.

Go with peace, tom. There was so much in life that you conquered. I am grateful to be one of the people that you blessed.

-mandy

base704

Re: [blair700] Tom Manship

Man...
I just don't know what to say.

Tom Manship was one hell of a good man, and I am richer in my life for having the priviledge to have known him...

RIP brother

edited to add:
I also couldn't agree more with all the positive comments on Tom's family. They made us feel as though we belonged there, and were just as much "family" as everyone else.
They indeed, did understand what base meant to Tom.
Thanx to all...

base704

Re: [base570] Tom Manship

In reply to: One last thing I want to say is thank you to my 3 friends who were there. They all exhibited the kind of brotherhood you look for in a friend and BASE companion. They stood by each other through the good or bad, they came together as a team in rough times, everyone kept a cool head about themselves and dealt with the situation, and they also have been there for each other after the accident. I would gladly have them by my side in any battle having no reservations about whether or not they can handle the worst possible crisis... although I knew this beforehand, now it has been proven.
Thank you Mike, Blair and Jason.

(i couldn't think of a better way to say that...or much of anything else for that matter)

hollyhjb

Re: [rfarris] Tom Manship

In reply to: Someone started a thread "it's hard to find a mentor"....

It's even harder to lose one.
That exact thought has been swimming around in my head for days now.

Tom was my biggest support and mentor in base. He even came to see me in California when I was learning how to skydive. Unfortunately, he went back to Texas a little early this last summer, and I never even got to jump with him.

Last night Coy was telling me that when he was in Norway with Tom(before I had met Coy) Tom was telling every one that he had this great chick packing for him in Twin, who was going to be one hell of a base jumper.

That really made me smile.

I'm just glad I got him over to my house last summer for some proper dinner every once in awhile.

All our love-holly joan and Coy

Whiskeychick

Re: [blair700] Tom Manship

I showed up to Twin awhile back, very undercurrent and scared stiff. Tom took me on my first few jumps of the day. Every time we hiked out of the canyon, he would notice me lagging along, and pretended to be out of breath as well so I could rest. He said that his old bones weren't what they used to be, but we both knew he was lying through his teeth. Tom was a class act that I am thankful to have met.

Trina

base570

Re: [blair700] Tom Manship

I can't sleep so I was sitting here looking through Tom's last logbook and thought everyone might like to see some of his jump stats. He kept meticulous records of all of his jumps.
Total of 1869 Jumps
of that..
1697 were Potato Bridge jumps and he climbed out over 1315 times (640,000ft or over 121miles!). In August he jumped almost every day totalling over 105 jumps so that makes about 51,000ft climbed for the month.
B-2
A-82
S-1729
E-54
O-6
46 Objects
His jump #'s under his canopies...
Fox-538
Dagger-506
Black Jack1-390
Black Jack2-61
Rock Dragon-40
Stratocloud-9
And there is still 300 or so that are not mentioned in this logbook.

miss you Tom

blair700

Re: [base570] Tom Manship

Thanks Jason,
I'm up too
Those are impressive #'s....its clear to me why 516 insisted we visit TF in August
I'm honored to KNOW 1 of his B's intimately, and the other I 'think' has a great Rod&Tom adventure to it
Anyways, there is alot I want to say, maybe I can post it soon, maybe not. But thanks to everyone, especially Tom's family, and TJ, Mike, and Jason. I learned the hardest lesson in BASE, the worst way, but it motivates me to give back....to my family, my friends, and the BASE jumpers....its what Tom did all along.....teach, share, live. I miss you Tom, thank you for being you, and being my friend.
C-ya
Blair

edited to add: MUCH grattitude and respect for Mark and Dave, look forward to sharing that exit, beer, and many a story......Thank you both, I'm sorry for YOUR loss. Much respect ....

base704

Re: [base570] Tom Manship

speaking of Potatos...

DexterBase

Re: [blair700] Tom Manship

Yo, I'd really like to do a jump with something that belonged to him. It could be a T-shirt, or just some token item he carried around. Actually one of his pilot chutes would be realy cool. I would just make one jump with the item and then ship it back. You know, one last 2-way. Let me know if this is possible.

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