Library Shelves Dedicated to Tom Donaldson

The following article and photo by Scott E. Kinney appeared in the November 25, 2005 Atlantic News:

The Lane Library dedicated one of its shelves on Monday to the memory of former library board member Tom Donaldson.

Donaldson served on the board from 1994 to 2000 and his widow, Fran, said the dedication was fitting in consideration of all the time he spent at the library.

The shelf, along with the books that fill it, was donated to the library by residents of Hampton and Naples, Florida, including members of the Naples Heritage Book Club, of which Donaldson was a proud member as well as the club’s “token male,” according to Fran.

Donaldson was both an avid reader and writer, and Fran said he loved to sit outside at their Florida home by the palm tree with his books. Donaldson also served as a freelance writer for the Atlantic News from 1996 until his passing.

During that time, Tom covered selectmen’s meetings in Hampton and Seabrook, the Seafood Festival and Seabrook Old Home Days.

Fran said her late husband was pleased and surprised that the paper offered him work, despite the fact that he was in his late 60s. “He just loved the paper,” said Fran.

Tom is remembered at the Atlantic News as a devout Red Sox fan, the paper’s representative to the Hampton Rotary, and a member of American Legion Post 35. Most of all, he is remembered as a good writer and a good friend. “He would have been proud,” said Fran of the dedication.