By Linda Moody, The Advocate
Even though Tom Everhart considers himself a local yokel, he is officially an author. His book “0-60 in Five Minutes” with the subtitle of “My Stroll through Rock-n-Roll Music” has been published and available thanks to the assistance of Alan Graham, brother-in-law to the late Jim Morrison of The Doors and author of “I Remember Jim Morrison”. It is published by Graham’s company, Clarion Press out of Coronado, California, a division of The Coronado Clarion.
Even though the two men have never met, they became acquainted after Everhart contacted Graham about his newest book on Morrison at Amazon.com. “He asked me how I got his book because he took it off the Amazon website,” Everhart recalled. “So I have the first copy of the book. He wanted me to read it and wanted to know what I thought of it. I read it the first day. I told him it was the best book on Morrison. I know because I have 24 of them.”
Subsequently, Everhart asked Graham about looking at his own writings, which he had been doing for years. “A lot of people told me to write my story,” Everhart said. “Graham was hot on this. He said no deejay ever wrote a book. I wrote my stuff on legal paper, and my second cousin typed it out and put it on disk to send to Alan.”
Everhart remembers everything he has done and kept notes of those events. “I never went to Woodstock which was two years after I saw The Doors in Monterey,” he said. “I didn’t know it would be a part of history. Alan’s promoting my book on You Tube in California. I already sold 19 books, and he thinks it will go over big out there.” He added, “I didn’t expect this to go this fast. I happened to be a lot of places at the right time.”
Morrison was part of Everhart’s favorite group, The Doors, and he had met him on December 10, 1966 in Monterey, California at the fairgrounds during the time Everhart was on permanent profile with the military. “I was in the military for only nine months and three months on permanent profile,” said Everhart, whose favorite artist is Elvis Presley. “I was having hearing issues, but I didn’t know it.”
The book, according to Graham, chronicles Everhart’s life as a disc jockey. In recent years, Everhart lost his son, Donny, in a car accident and then suffered a heart attack.
Having had worked for Tri-Village Schools when he retired after 20 years, Everhart was helping move file cabinets from Palestine to the New Madison building. “I looked in it and found my file; and the principal, Paul Limbert, said I aspired to be a disc jockey,” Everhart said. “That was in 1956 or 1957. He never told me he did that.”
His love for Rock-n-Roll began in 1954 as soon as he got his first record player. “I always went to Richmond to the Special Record Shop,” he said. “In 1968, it was like someone dropped a bomb in Richmond. There was an explosion.” It took out many businesses including the record shop he patronized. That’s when he began getting his records from Jerry Dulin in Greenville, who was a disc jockey at the White Shrine, where Everhart competed in a Jitterbug contest. “I could also do the Stroll,” he said.
Everhart, whose favorite song is Bill Haley and the Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock”, said even though his is using more technical equipment, he prefers the vinyl. “They’re bringing it back,” he said. “I like to hear the pop and crackles. Then I know it’s in original form.”
Everhart turned 68 on March 29. A graduate of Westmont High School, he worked for Mercury Records and Hill’s Roses in Richmond, at American Agg in Phillipsburg, and at Sheller-Globe in Union City for 16 years before he went to work for Tri-Village schools. The son of the late Orville and Beulah (Onkst) Everhart, he is married to the former Becky Smith, whom he married on March 16, 1968. “I met her when I got home from the service,” he said. “She was celebrating her birthday at Jim Hile’s house and we got together.” The couple had two sons, Lee, 44, named after Tom’s best friend and Donny, who was 33 at the time of his death on February 20, 2005. There are three grandchildren: Tommy, Sammy, and D.J.
Everhart belongs to the Greenville Moose and the Elks, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, and Eagles Lodge all in Union City, Indiana. When he’s not listening to music, he mows 33 acres of grass, which he has done for two years now.
A comment best friend, Max Lawrence of Union City, made about Everhart appears on the back of the book. It reads, “The ramblings of a genuine hippie. I only wish I knew what he can’t remember.”
Everhart plans to have the books available at businesses in Greenville and at Hastings in Richmond.
Those interested can e-mail him at:
or through The Coronado Clarion at: www.coronado-clarion.com
The Clarion Press, A division of The Coronado Clarion is proud to announce the publication of a new book ” Zero to Sixty In Five Minutes” By Tom Everhart.
In this chronicle about the life and times of a Rock-N-Roll D J, Tom has preserved a piece of street level history which would have been forgotten.
If you would like to publish your own book, please contact :
Clarion Press at (619) 277 1552; (619) 435-1038