Izzy, thanks for this thoughtful comment. I agree about how generous Tom was with his time and experience. He did a great thing in elevating the importance of values, and an example of pure rigor in dissecting competing perspectives in his ruthless pursuit of a collective path forward.
I will definitely keep you informed of opportunities to help. BartPay looks amazing btw. I am certain you’ve learned quite a few lessons that can be passed on to the next builder.
Thanks for the comment

Absolutely. Stay tuned to the Continuity Project, and yes, we absolutely join forces.

I met Tom about twelve years ago at an IRTA convention. We ended up sitting down together over lunch, and what I expected to be a quick, polite exchange turned into a long, unhurried conversation. I told him about BartPay, the barter credit ecosystem I was building, still rough around the edges at the time. Tom listened the way he apparently listened to everyone — closely, without hurry, without ego — then offered his own insight, and in doing so confirmed something I’d only half-trusted in myself: that the idea was sound, that reciprocal exchange and community-controlled credit weren’t a fringe curiosity but a real and necessary direction. That conversation stuck with me for over a decade, long after the convention itself faded from memory.

It says a lot about who Tom was that a single lunch with someone he’d just met could leave that kind of mark. He didn’t just theorize about mutual credit and the Credit Commons — he showed what it looked like to practice the values behind those ideas in an ordinary conversation with someone he’d just met. Generous with his time, and generous with his belief in what others were building. That same spirit is exactly what this Continuity Project seems set to carry forward.

His life has ended. The work — and for me, that lunch’s quiet vote of confidence — continues.

Please add me to the list to be notified when the project launches — I’d like to follow and support it however I can.

— Izzy Landau (Barter of America / BartPay)

If you are interested in joining a 30-minute roundtable about the topic, please get in touch. Thank you

Peter, thank you. I’m especially glad you mentioned Riegel. One of the things we hope to do through the project is preserve not only Tom’s work but the intellectual lineage around it, including the people and ideas that shaped his thinking. I’ll make sure you stay informed, and I hope you’ll contribute whatever recollections or connections you think may be useful as this develops.
All the best,
Tony

Stephen, thank you. That sense of lineage is exactly what I hope we can preserve and carry forward, not simply Tom’s writings, but the people, relationships, experiments, lessons and ideas that developed around them over decades. I’m stoked with the idea that you’re willing to be part of this, and I’d love to bring some of that history into the first conversations we’re beginning to organize.
Tony

I was saddened to learn of Tom’s passing. Many many moons ago now, I was an irregular correspondent with Tom when first I came across both his own works and those of E.C. Riegel.

As already remarked above, it is indeed wonderful to learn of your desire to both preserve and develop Tom’s work and I would very much like to be kept informed of your progress.

Best regards,

Thank you Lidiya. Keep up the good work — Tom spoke highly of you. Ken