Presenter: Thomas Warren
Grew up in around the midtown neighborhood
Retired Professor of Education at Beloit College

"The Learner" is a fiction book that is "confronting God, Golf, and Beyond. It is set in a community on the Wisconsin-Illinois border that Warren calls Belle Waters. (What a coincidence! People often call Beloit Bel-wah.) The story features a young minister grappling with the challenge of his new job while trying to master golf. Along the way he encounters a dynamic group of youngsters, the plight of homelessness, and–is it–love, or what?" (www.thomasfranklinwarren.com)

Because of Tom's family connection with Stark family of Rockford, he was able to connect with the Tiger Woods family, golfing with Bill Stark and Earl Woods (friends in the military) and Tiger Woods when Tiger was young.

Tom wrote the book, "An Old Caddie Looks Back: Reflections From a Town that Loves Golf... and Tiger" (it's about golf in Rockford and Tiger Woods connection to Rockford)