New book on Tom Tyler now available for purchase

Longtime Tom Tyler fan G. Michael Dobbs has written and published his book on Tom in September of 2025! It is titled “The Films and Life of Tom Tyler: Cowboy, Monster, Hero”. The book is 354 pages long and packed with updated information regarding Tom’s career, including a mention on the two silent films recently restored for the “Tom Tyler Silent Film Collection” available on the Undercrank Productions label, "The Man from Nevada" and "Law of the Plains", both from 1929. Michael has many years of experience as a journalist and editor, which means that this new book on Tom Tyler is sure to be an engaging read.

You can purchase a copy of “The Films and Life of Tom Tyler: Cowboy, Monster, Hero” at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

Aventuras de Tom Tyler blog celebrates its five-year anniversary!

It is hard to believe that the last five years since the inception of this blog flew by – not to mention having the material and creativity to keep it going. The first post written was Welcome to the Trigger Tom Blog!  and was certainly the appropriate opening to information about Tom not seen in his biography by Mike Chapman. Keeping an ongoing, unique niche blog dedicated to Tom Tyler (apparently the only one of its kind to exist ever since the earliest days of the Internet) with engaging and interesting information about Tom has at times been challenging but fulfilling in its own way, bringing little elements of his background to life.

As Aventuras de Tom Tyler enters the New Year of 2022, the search for Tom’s lost silent films and Monogram Pictures westerns continues – and any updates will be made here on this blog.

On a final note for this blog entry – three years from 2022 will mark Tom Tyler’s 100th Anniversary of his debut as a leading man in silent film. Specifically, September 1925 when “Let’s Go Gallagher” was released for exhibition across the nation. “Let’s Go Gallagher” remains the Holy Grail of lost Tom Tyler silent films – here’s hoping that it will be rediscovered in 2022.

Meet Imogene, a special Tom Tyler fan

While one of the most fascinating insights into Tom Tyler’s personality was the type of charity work he did as a famous Hollywood star – visiting orphanages as his unique way of giving back to the community, and inviting them to see him in person when he traveled the nation back in 1937 with Wallace Brothers Circus, the following event is sure to tug at the heart strings of the reader.

A young girl and very special fan of Tom’s named Imogene Brown lived at 203 South Charles St. in Belleville, Illinois. She loved watching Tom Tyler’s movies and even wrote him a fan letter or two during the 1930’s at the height of his career. In an article from The Belleville News-Democrat, August 7, 1937, her name is mentioned along with Tom about his national tour with Wallace Brothers circus. At the tender age of seven, her letter must have touched Tom rather deeply, enough for him to invite her personally to see him perform at the circus, riding horseback and performing muscular feats upon the high bar. In Imogene’s own words, "There are times when being a shut-in is not so bad", upon speaking on the phone with Tom Tyler’s representative who made it a priority to call her. So why was Imogene a shut-in, for want of a better word, invalid?

In her letter to Tom Tyler, she described what happened to her as a toddler which resulted in her being handicapped. Confined to a board which held her spine in place, a horrific accident occurred to her when she was two years old in her hometown of Clinton, Indiana. Playing outside with friends, little Imogene fell onto the pavement the wrong way, which resulted in a spinal injury, two vertebrae cracking. Due to her young age, Imogene’s doctors could not perform surgery on her until she reached the age of eight, to happen at Shriner’s Hospital in St. Louis. Unlike present-day medicine, which would have little Imogene wearing a brace to hold her spine in place, she remained immobile for five years as a child, strapped to a special board. Can you imagine young Imogene, unable to move as she wished, running and playing with her friends, while she had to be confined to a certain position? Chances are she would dream of walking, running, dancing – and even horseback riding while watching Tom Tyler westerns during the early 1930’s. Just receiving the news she was invited to see her hero at the circus making an appearance in her hometown must have had her dancing on air:

Magnanimous Despair alone
Could show me so divine a thing
           - Andrew Marvell

Residing in Belleville, Illinois by 1936 with her parents according to The Belleville News-Democrat, December 4, 1936, Imogene did attend the local school, Washington School, by means of using a special bench built just for her by the school janitor, who was handy in creating a “desk” just for her use. Being disabled certainly did not hinder Imogene’s ability to excel at academics, for she remained a straight-A student in grammar school. Neither did her disability prevent her from practicing tap-dancing at home before bedtime, while remaining strapped to her special board. The injury did not affect her foot movement ability, thankfully, and it did help blood circulation in her lower half. Upon speaking with Tom Tyler’s representative, little Imogene must have felt tremendous joy being able to take part in an activity with her friends, which was to attend the circus. Not that she was unhappy about not taking part in everything with her friends, for earlier in 1937, she celebrated her seventh birthday party in April that year, playing the role of hostess. However, the circus was going to be her first main event to attend, and at the encouraging of her hero, Tom Tyler. Better yet, she would get to meet one hundred children from St. John’s Orphanage, Belleville, also attending the circus, courtesy of Tom Tyler’s invite.

The Belleville News-Democrat, IL, December 4, 1936

Imogene Brown was Tom Tyler’s guest of honor, and, strapped to her support board, was in a special place of the audience next to her parents where her view of his act would remain unobstructed for the duration of the show. One can only imagine just how bright her smile was that day, her face lighting up the audience like a spotlight:

And of condensed Rays a Gem to make,
'Twould be the brightest Lustre of a Crown,
And an esteem invaluable take
- Thomas Heyrick

To be sure, Imogene must have had a grand time that day at the circus, enjoying and cheering Tom Tyler’s performance, a day to be remembered long afterward. After all, who would not want to attend the circus and be the honored guest of its #1 touring star? Tom Tyler lived up to his public image and always kept his major fan base in mind. Perhaps most importantly, Tom was, for one day in a little girl’s life, a real-life superhero – five years before he portrayed the most popular superhero in the world on the silver screen, in “Adventures of Captain Marvel”.

Note: If anyone knows whatever became of Miss Imogene Brown of Belleville, Illinois, born April 9, 1930, if she grew up and married, had children, please contact me (aventurasdetomtyler_@_triggertom.com – remove underscores) and I will include it here as an update. Thank you!

June is Scleroderma Awareness Month

Here at Aventuras de Tom Tyler, we are observing the month of June 2021 as Scleroderma Awareness Month. Even though there remains no cure for this rare disease Tom died from in 1954, some treatments remains available to help scleroderma patients ease the pain from this disease.

There is much information about scleroderma from the Scleroderma Foundation about what the disease is, its classification as an autoimmune disease, its complexity as a disease, its frequency among women compared to men, as well as possible environmental influences.

One thing I do want to repeatedly stress about Tom Tyler and scleroderma is the following: even though he died from a disease that was little understood and no treatments available, his having scleroderma should never define him; it should never define him during the last years of his career and life, and that he deserves to be remembered the way he wanted to be remembered. This is what makes a true scleroderma warrior.

Thank you to everyone interested in learning about scleroderma and of course advocating for Tom Tyler and his interesting career in film and weightlifting.

www.scleroderma.org

Remembering Tom Tyler: 67 years ago (a week from) today

As we move in to the 67th year since Tom Tyler’s passing, the social media pages for Aventuras de Tom Tyler will be commemorating him during the last week of April 2021 through movies and tv shows from his film career, up to the end. You are invited to join us; please share posts of these movies and tv shows, and for those of you who first saw Tom Tyler appearing on popular television westerns like “The Lone Ranger”, “The Gene Autry Show”, and “Steve Donovan, Western Marshal”, keep in mind that a rare disease like scleroderma does not define its victim. Tom shall always be remembered the way he wanted to be remembered.

Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AventurasDeTomTyler/

Our Twitter page: https://twitter.com/AventurasDeTom

Collectibles: Tom Tyler Tales: The Adirondack Cowboy comic books

There were only two comic books posthumously issued with Tom Tyler as a western screen hero, and they were published in 2003 and 2005. While these dates seem much later than usual for a film star of the 1920's and 1930's, there is a reason for it: none had been published in the United States since then, excluding the Spain-published comic stories of Tom Tyler in the popular BOY periodical for youths, published by Gato Negro in Barcelona. There really was not much of a tribute to Tom as was stars like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers in the states, even though he certainly deserved one.

Tom Tyler Tales: The Adirondack Cowboy was the creation of three Essex County, New York fans of Tom Tyler – the county where Tom was born in 1903. 2003 is a significant year, since it marks the 100^th anniversary of Tom's birth. Calvin Castine, Sid Couchey, and Arto Monaco are the men who provided not only the story and artwork for these two comic books, but also the story behind creating them, Tom's biography and filmography, and a plethora of Tom Tyler memorabilia items reproduced and interspersed throughout the books.

Tom Tyler Tales #1 contains a story about Tom and how he wound up traveling all the way from Port Henry, a hamlet of Moriah in New York state, to Baxter Springs, Kansas. His adventure involves tracking down three desperados called “The Three Saddlemates”, based on the book creators: Sid, Arto, and Cal. This trio is of course reminiscent of “The Three Mesquiteers”. Tom helps Baxter Springs sheriff Gordie, based on Gordie Little, a native of North Country, New York, and of Home Town Cable. Always the hero. Tom rounds up The Three Saddlemates, and sends them back to jail.

Tom Tyler Tales, Too, published in 2005, was the joint effort of Calvin and Sid (Arto died in November 2003). This comic book contains two stories: one including The Three Saddlemates, and the second story, Tom as Major Courage – a superhero play on the name Captain Marvel. As in the other stories, the creators have characters named after them here too. The comic book is not only a tribute to Tom Tyler but also to Arto Monaco. Most notably, profits from Tom Tyler Tales, Too was intended to go towards a historic marker for him in Moriah, which unfortunately never materialized due to lack of interest.