Traveling Man is a well deserved

gift for the photographer of this book, Tom Shea. He's been a good friend, a generous giver of fine clothes, fine wine, mediocre beer, and tall tales.



And in this weird world where promises are rarely kept, Tom as been,

for the most part, exacting - he's kept nearly all of his promises.



He did, however, break one pledge.



When my daughter was 8 years old,

Tom assured her that he would

accompany her to her

High School Prom.



She's glad that Tom shied

away from that commitment

- she went with a testosterone-enhanced Klingon instead.



I, on the other hand,

almost wish Tom

hadn't welched on that deal.

________

I've known Tom Shea for over twenty years.

During that time he's been a dentist,

a sailor,

a programmer,

a land owner,

an Hawaiian construction worker,

and - again - a dentist.

Yet, in all of these occupational permutations,

he's remained consistent in two unique ways:

He's reserved a good chunk of his time

and sanity for traveling all over the world,

and he's made an art out of friendship.

The traveling part comes easy, I suppose,

but the friendship part

- well, that's a rarer talent.



He's also a damn good photographer.



John Wagner