He was a cousin of Saint John fiddling sensation, Ned Landry. He spent a short time living with his mother in a low-security women's penitentiary before he was seized by Children's Aid Society and was later adopted by a family in Skinners Pond, Prince Edward Island.
At the age of 15 he left his adoptive family to hitchhike across Canada, a journey that consumed the next 13 years of his life as he travelled between various part time jobs while writing songs on his guitar.
At his last stop in Timmins, Ontario, which may also have been his big "break", he found himself a nickel short of a beer at the city's Maple Leaf Hotel. The bartender agreed to give Tom a beer if he would play a few songs. These few songs turned into a 13 month contract to play at the hotel.
A public celebration of Connors' life will be held next Wednesday in Peterborough, Ontario.
