Best of Times: More Mischief and Memories from a Nashville Kid of the ’50s

Tom Henderson III was born and raised in Nashville, Tenn., and walked and rode his bicycle to his neighborhood elementary school, drug store, and movie theater. He attended an all-boys high school in Franklin, Tenn., and eventually (as he puts it) graduated college from Memphis State. He is a U.S. Army veteran, serving from 1966-2969 in the medical corps, including one year in Vietnam in 1968. He is the nostalgic columnist for the ＂The Nashville Retrospect,＂ a throwback newspaper, and has been a moderator, panelist, and a frequent presenter at the Green Hills Historic Homecoming events, in Nashville, over the past several years. Henderson was also featured in the highly-acclaimed Nashville Public Television series: ＂Nashville, The 20th Century in Photographs, Volumes 2 and 3,＂ and was a speaker, and presenter, at the prestigious Southern Festival of Books in 2016. His first book, ＂When I Was A Kid,＂ Growing up in Nashville from the ’40s to the ’70s,＂ hit No. 3 on the local best seller list. His second book, ＂Yesterdays: A Nashville Kid Recalls the Best of Times,＂ is a popular Baby Boomer flashback that remains a top-seller in local bookstores and on Amazon as well, with stories of youth, misadventures, and shenanigans, Both of Henderson’s books relive everything from going to drive-In movies, cruising, dancing to combos in driveways, walking to the local drug store, downtown shopping, and skating at the local roller rink, to remembrances of doing the laundry, riding around with the milk man, stoking the coal furnace and going to those make-out parties...plus most everything in between. His third book, ＂Best of Times,＂ follows in the footsteps of the previous two books. It is a humorous romp through those special years of the mid-20th century. With subtle humor about misdeeds and shenanigans, and lots of his vintage photos, the reader can’t help but notice (as one author states) his underlying message about a loss of community in the demise of local neighborhoods and traditions. It doesn’t matter if you grew up in Seattle or Sarasota, Maine or Montana, his stories bring back those special days of youth. Henderson’s speaking and slide show presentations continue to be a popular attraction for civic organizations, alumni groups and historical institutions across the city. He has two older sisters, has been married to a local school girl since 1967, and lives in Nashville, Tenne. He has three sons and a bunch of grandkids.