Review: If This Is Heaven, I am Going to Be a Good Boy: The Tommy Leonard Story

ISBN: 0595356982

The following review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN: Editor of Bookpleasures. CLICK TO VIEW Norm Goldman's Reviews

To read Norm's Interview with Author Kathleen Cleary CLICK HERE

Probably many of us have a favorite bartender, however, I doubt if we have met one comparable and memorable to the legendary Tommy Leonard of the now defunct Eliot Lounge that was located on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Commonwealth Avenue in Boston.

Nine years after the lounge was closed on September 30^th, 1996, Kathleen Cleary brings us, If This Is Heaven, I am Going to Be a Good Boy: The Tommy Leonard Story, the first full length biography of someone who had received countless accolades for his unbelievable contributions to the sport of marathon racing, as well as his generosity he extended to many charitable institutions. With succinct biographical links and testimonies, Cleary narrates how the lives of countless individuals, some famous and others just ordinary folk, were touched and enhanced by this legendary bartender.

She begins with Leonard’s early childhood days, when his impoverished parents dropped six year old Tommy together with his four year old sister at the Shurtleff Mission in Westfield Massachusetts. From here Leonard drifted from one foster home to another, and amazingly he did not end up as an alcoholic or a suicide tragedy, as was the case with several of the kids from these missions.

Skipping college, Leonard joined the Marines and was always proud of having served his country, as well as his lifelong adherence to the Marine Corps’ core values of honor, courage and commitment. Years later Leonard received the prestigious William F. Degan Semper Fidelis Award that is given annually to a Marine for acts of heroism or substantial acts of community service. And ironically, although he never went to college, he received an honorary doctorate degree from Westfield State College.

As Cleary narrates, there are not too many individuals, let alone bartenders, that can claim to have a bridge in Boston named after them, a bench in Falmouth dedicated to them, being mentioned, written about or quoted in countless newspapers and magazines, receive an honorary citizenship and goodwill ambassadorship from Houston, Texas, having the City of Boston proclaim a day after them as thanks to their many contributions to the city, inducted into the Bartender Hall of Fame for their promotion of responsible policies and attitudes towards alcohol, being included by the Boston Globe on the occasion of the one hundredth running of the Boston Marathon as one of the one hundred individuals who had made significant contributions to the history of the Boston Marathon, and being known as the official greeter of the Boston Marathon.

As for his charitable endeavors, Leonard best sums up his actions when he states that “thoughtfulness is the best measure of a man," and this is quite in evidence in his selfless support in raising funds for The Jimmy Fund, as well as for other charitable causes.

Considered to be the guru of New England marathon running and spurred on by his belief that “without dreams, life would be intolerable," Leonard played a tremendous role in the creation of the Litchfield Hills Road Race, the Holyoke Elks Talking Turkey 10K, the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Road Race, the Nantucket 10-Miler, the Westfield Road Race, and the Falmouth Road Race. It was his belief that when you participated in a road race it was akin to “going to a moving street party."

What is noteworthy about this charismatic character, as pointed out in the biography, is that he had an aversion to being in the spotlight or receiving accolades. He was the first to credit anyone but himself for the success of the various events he orchestrated.

Cleary’s biography, although filled with many interesting tidbits, occasionally bogs down in an overabundance of name dropping and references to various marathon happenings that, unless you are a marathon enthusiast, you wouldn’t have a clue as to what she is talking about. In addition, there isn’t enough of Leonard’s personal voice, and perhaps this is principally due to the fact that the book, as indicated by the author in her Acknowledgments, “was developed through a series of interviews, phone calls, and email communications, as well as research of the extensive list of newspaper and magazine articles and books profiling Leonard."

However, there is enough here to appeal to marathoners, sports enthusiasts and others, who enjoy reading about a passionate individual who, since the age of six, never gave up and during his twenty-four-year career at the Eliot quietly helped people make enormous lifestyle changes. “He had a way of teasing and cajoling people in believing in themselves," and he considered strangers to be his friends, even if he never met them before they stepped into the Eliot.

I guess, we all have something to learn from the legendary Tommy Leonard, and if there were more Tommy Leonard’s, the world would be a better place to live in.