The Pen Maker

"I ran into this world at full speed with eyes wide shut, like a bumper car at the fair. Go until you hit something, then turn, and go a different direction."

In this candid and deeply personal memoir, Clarence Thomas Messer-known to friends as Tom-invites readers into a life defined by movement, resilience, and the search for meaning in the "rambling" path of an imperfect man. Requested by his children as a record of his legacy, The Pen Maker is an honest accounting of a seventy-year journey through the high-stakes world of aviation, the discipline of military service, and the quiet sanctuary of a woodshop.

From his early days on the sidewalks of Florida to the engine rooms of deep-sea fishing boats, Tom's life was never sedentary. He takes you from the "windowless bullpens" of corporate giants like Eastman Kodak and Delta Air Lines to the terrifying heights of hanging off a flagpole hundreds of feet in the air. He shares the grit of serving as a firefighter and EMT, the weight of four marriages, and the profound, silent sorrow of losing a child.

More than just a collection of adventures, this book is a reflection on memory itself-how we "gather up neurons to run and hide," and how our personalities spin the reality of our past. It is a story of a man who learned to use his heart more than his hands, eventually finding peace in the meticulous art of pen-making.

Witty, raw, and unapologetically honest, The Pen Maker is a tribute to the "medals" of achievement and hardship that every person earns simply by living. It is a message to the next generation: life is a "moving target," but if you can hang on to a normal life after the storms, you've won the game.