Remembering Tommie.

Legendary stand-up comedian and favorite son of Harvey, Illinois, Tom Dressen, passed away on June 17th at the age of 86. From hardscrabble beginnings, to forming the Tim and Tom comedy duo with Tim Reid in 1969, to finding himself as the opening act for Frank Sinatra and 61 appearances on the Tonight Show, Tom was an everyman who made it big, but most importantly, never forgot where he came from, or the basic building blocks needed to live a life of faith, family, and friends, which is what success is all about. This is one of my favorite conversations with Tom, shortly after his book "Still Standing ... My Journey from Streets and Saloons to the Stage, and Sinatra" in which he shares his incredible rise from dirt poor kid who shined shoes to becoming one of the most beloved comedians and humanitarians of the last 50 years. On this Father's Day weekend, Tom's experience of finding out that his biological father was not who he thought he was and a deathbed confession underscores the power of forgiveness.