Local music shop owner remembered

In the warm, wood-paneled back room of Soma's coffee shop, 322 E. Kirkwood Ave., a small crowd of people gathered Saturday night in memory of a man who trod the fine line between local shopkeeper and extended family. Thoughtful expressions lingered on their faces with the occasional painful smile as they remembered their favorite music enthusiast and realized once again just how much they were going to miss him.\nSaturday's "Fakin Bacon" poetry reading, presented by Matrix, a Bloomington literary organization, is only one of the many recent tributes to Tom Donohue, the owner of local music shop TD's CDs and LPs, who died Wednesday after a battle with cancer. Donohue's death at age 53 came suddenly for many locals who were just preparing musical benefit concerts to help him bear the immense cost of fighting his illness. \nDonohue's tiny one-room shop, which was housed in the adjacent space to Soma's back room, was the backdrop for the Matrix's poetry tribute. Closed since Donohue entered the hospital for surgery in October, its locked door still bears posters advertising benefit concerts on Donohue's behalf. Colorful paper cranes friends and customers made as part of a healing ritual in hopes that Donohue would recover float in midair, suspended from the ceiling nearby.\nNo one knows what will become of the little back room now. It is doubtful the shop will survive as anything more than a local memory, said Pete Smith, who owns the facilities for Laughing Planet and Soma's, including the space TD's occupied.\n"I don't know if somebody's planning to continue (TD's) or not," said Abraham Morris, 24, who had known Donohue for years. \nMorris' family bought albums from TD's since Morris was a child, and he almost considered Donohue a relative.\n"He was a family friend … we even kind of adopted him into our family and started calling him 'Uncle Tom,'" Morris said. "He was part of our holidays and stuff."\nAfter Morris returned to Bloomington as an adult and accepted a position as manager of Soma's, he had the chance to see Donohue at work on a daily basis. \n"That's a small shop. It's not a really easy place to make a profitable business," Morris said. "(Tom succeeded) because of what he brought to the table."\nOne of the strengths of Donohue's shop was the comprehensiveness of his music collection.\n"He had almost amazing superpowers to find music," Morris said. \nHe recalled one time when he heard a song and went to TD's in search of the album it came from. Although Morris thought he remembered the name of the album, it turned out he only knew the record label. But Donohue unearthed the album in less than two minutes.\nAccording to Donohue's friends, it was this personable approach to customers that made his small business into a community institution. Smith, who met Donohue in 1994, just before TD's CDs and LPs opened up, said the shop took off right away despite its small size. \n"He didn't advertise much, (but) … it was packed (with customers) in there all the time," Smith said. "If he didn't have (a CD) for you, he could get it for you, usually within three or four days."\nHowever, Donohue's genie-like ability to provide customers with any CD at a moment's notice came with a few drawbacks, especially given the coziness of his establishment.\n"The organizational system was Tom's," Morris said, laughing.\nMorris recalled whenever he bought an album at TD's, Donohue would disappear behind the piles of CDs occupying the counter to ring up the sale. Eventually a hand would emerge with Morris' purchase. \nRex Miller, one of Donohue's close friends for over 25 years, said the décor of Donohue's house closely resembled that of his shop. \n"The guy was definitely a pack rat," Miller said. "I think at one time he (owned) over 10,000 records. I helped him move a couple of times and it was back-breaking work."\nMiller said he would miss Donohue's smile and his sense of humor the most.\n"We just bonded over the years like brothers from different mothers," Miller said. \n-- Contact staff writer Elise Baker at elimbake@indiana.edu.Saturday's "Fakin Bacon" poetry reading, presented by Matrix, a Bloomington literary organization, is only one of the many recent tributes to Tom Donohue, the owner of local music shop TD's CDs and LPs, who died Wednesday after a battle with cancer. Donohue's death at age 53 came suddenly for many locals who were just preparing musical benefit concerts to help him bear the immense cost of fighting his illness. \nDonohue's tiny one-room shop, which was housed in the adjacent space to Soma's back room, was the backdrop for the Matrix's poetry tribute. Closed since Donohue entered the hospital for surgery in October, its locked door still bears posters advertising benefit concerts on Donohue's behalf. Colorful paper cranes friends and customers made as part of a healing ritual in hopes that Donohue would recover float in midair, suspended from the ceiling nearby.\nNo one knows what will become of the little back room now. It is doubtful the shop will survive as anything more than a local memory, said Pete Smith, who owns the facilities for Laughing Planet and Soma's, including the space TD's occupied.\n"I don't know if somebody's planning to continue (TD's) or not," said Abraham Morris, 24, who had known Donohue for years. \nMorris' family bought albums from TD's since Morris was a child, and he almost considered Donohue a relative.\n"He was a family friend … we even kind of adopted him into our family and started calling him 'Uncle Tom,'" Morris said. "He was part of our holidays and stuff."\nAfter Morris returned to Bloomington as an adult and accepted a position as manager of Soma's, he had the chance to see Donohue at work on a daily basis. \n"That's a small shop. It's not a really easy place to make a profitable business," Morris said. "(Tom succeeded) because of what he brought to the table."\nOne of the strengths of Donohue's shop was the comprehensiveness of his music collection.\n"He had almost amazing superpowers to find music," Morris said. \nHe recalled one time when he heard a song and went to TD's in search of the album it came from. Although Morris thought he remembered the name of the album, it turned out he only knew the record label. But Donohue unearthed the album in less than two minutes.\nAccording to Donohue's friends, it was this personable approach to customers that made his small business into a community institution. Smith, who met Donohue in 1994, just before TD's CDs and LPs opened up, said the shop took off right away despite its small size. \n"He didn't advertise much, (but) … it was packed (with customers) in there all the time," Smith said. "If he didn't have (a CD) for you, he could get it for you, usually within three or four days."\nHowever, Donohue's genie-like ability to provide customers with any CD at a moment's notice came with a few drawbacks, especially given the coziness of his establishment.\n"The organizational system was Tom's," Morris said, laughing.\nMorris recalled whenever he bought an album at TD's, Donohue would disappear behind the piles of CDs occupying the counter to ring up the sale. Eventually a hand would emerge with Morris' purchase. \nRex Miller, one of Donohue's close friends for over 25 years, said the décor of Donohue's house closely resembled that of his shop. \n"The guy was definitely a pack rat," Miller said. "I think at one time he (owned) over 10,000 records. I helped him move a couple of times and it was back-breaking work."\nMiller said he would miss Donohue's smile and his sense of humor the most.\n"We just bonded over the years like brothers from different mothers," Miller said. \n-- Contact staff writer Elise Baker at elimbake@indiana.edu.