One of the notable things about Thomas was how connected people felt to him. Lots of people. And not just on a superficial 'acquaintance' kind of level...many people felt Thomas' presence in their lives very intimately...even though they might never have met him. (Never let it be said you can't create a powerful coaching presence [and impact] through email and group teleseminars alone.)
It goes to follow that Thomas' death was also felt very personally.
That being said it was one of those things. When the team left behind...Susan Austin, myself, the team of staff and contractors and of course Dave Buck and the new gang...began the task of getting back to business, we didn't 'go public' with specifics of what happened.
Yes, we were in shock. And I know for me, I felt my greatest responsibility was to keep the show on the road. CoachVille had promised so many things to so many people, that really was the single most foremost thing in my mind at that time...honour his memory by fulfilling his vision. I think we succeeded in large part, at least until July that year.
In any case...we didn't do any public processing about the specifics of his death on us, even though as you'll see at this link...there was a lot of emotion and stuff that was going on behind the scenes.
Susan was the one who was actually there the hours and moments before his heart attack. She had been there for Thomas for that year and a half of glorious creation between fall 2001 and feb 2003...and I mean 'been there' on a personal level as well as business.
No collection such as AllThingsT.com would be complete without her very raw, very powerful post about what happened the day he died:
http://susantaustin.typepad.com/susansblog/2004/02/last_day_of_tho.html
If you didn't know Thomas, the comments below the post are probably most eye-opening. If you did know him and you haven't read this yet, it will give you some closure.
Thanks again Susan, for writing it.
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