Thomas Baker Slick Jr. (May 6, 1916 – October 6, 1962) was a
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
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, Texas-based inventor, businessman, adventurer, and heir to an oil business. Slick's father,
Thomas Baker Slick Sr., a.k.a. "The King of the Wildcatters", had made a fortune during the Oklahoma oil boom of the 1910s. He was notable for discovering Oklahoma's then-largest oil field, the
Cushing Oil Field
The Cushing Oil Field, also known as the Cushing-Drumright Oil Field, is an oil field in northeastern Oklahoma, part of the Mid-Continent oil province. The by field includes southeastern Payne County, northwestern Creek County, and northeas ...
.
Career
During the 1950s, Slick was an adventurer. He turned his attention to expeditions to investigate the
Loch Ness Monster
The Loch Ness Monster ( gd, Uilebheist Loch Nis), affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or mor ...
, the
Yeti
The Yeti ()["Yeti"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. is an ape-like creature purported t ...
,
Bigfoot
Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims o ...
and the Trinity Alps giant salamander. Slick's interest in
cryptozoology
Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...
was little known until the 1989 publication of the biography ''Tom Slick and the Search for Yeti'', by
Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman (born July 12, 1947) is an American cryptozoologist who has written over 40 books on a number of topics, including the pseudoscience and subculture of cryptozoology.
Early life
Coleman was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in ...
. Coleman continued his study of Slick in 2002 with ''Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology''. That book mentions many of Slick's adventures, in politics, art, science, and
cryptozoology
Cryptozoology is a pseudoscience and subculture that searches for and studies unknown, legendary, or extinct animals whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated, particularly those popular in folklore, such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness ...
, including his involvement with the
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
and
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in th ...
.
Slick was a friend of many celebrities, including Hughes and fellow flier
Jimmy Stewart
James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...
. Stewart, for example, assisted a Slick-backed expedition in smuggling a piece of the
Pangboche Yeti hand back to England for scientific analysis, Loren Coleman was to discover from Slick's files and confirmation from Stewart before his death.
Slick founded several research organizations, beginning with the forerunner of the
Texas Biomedical Research Institute
Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed), located in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent, non-profit biomedical research institution, specializing in genetics and in virology and immunology. Texas Biomed is funded by government and cor ...
in 1941. His most well-known legacy is the non-profit
Southwest Research Institute
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, is an independent and nonprofit applied research and development (R&D) organization. Founded in 1947 by oil businessman Tom Slick, it provides contract research and develop ...
(SwRI), which he founded in 1947 to seek revolutionary advancements in technology. SwRI continues to advance pure and applied science in a variety of fields from
lubricant
A lubricant (sometimes shortened to lube) is a substance that helps to reduce friction between surfaces in mutual contact, which ultimately reduces the heat generated when the surfaces move. It may also have the function of transmitting forces, t ...
and motor
fuel
A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
formulation to
solar physics
Solar physics is the branch of astrophysics that specializes in the study of the Sun. It deals with detailed measurements that are possible only for our closest star. It intersects with many disciplines of pure physics, astrophysics, and compu ...
and
planetary science
Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth), celestial bodies (such as moons, asteroids, comets) and planetary systems (in particular those of the Solar System) and the processes of their f ...
. He also founded the
Mind Science Foundation
The Mind Science Foundation (MSF) is a private non-profit scientific foundation in San Antonio, Texas, USA, established by the philanthropist Thomas Baker Slick in 1958.
The Foundation's mission is to raise awareness and levels of funding for one ...
in San Antonio in 1958 to do consciousness research.
In 1955 he was awarded a patent for the
lift slab
Lift slab construction (also called the Youtz-Slick Method) is a method of constructing concrete buildings by casting the floor or roof slab on top of the previous slab and then raising (jacking) the slab up with hydraulic jacks. This method of con ...
method of constructing concrete buildings.
He was an advocate of
world peace
World peace, or peace on Earth, is the concept of an ideal state of peace within and among all people and nations on Planet Earth. Different cultures, religions, philosophies, and organizations have varying concepts on how such a state would ...
. In 1958 he published the book, ''Permanent Peace: A Check and Balance Plan''. He funded the Tom Slick World Peace lectures at the
LBJ Library
The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, also known as the LBJ Presidential Library, is the presidential library and museum of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th president of the United States (1963–1969). It is located on the grounds of t ...
, and the Tom Slick Professorship of World Peace at the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
.
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. Born into the Coppola family, he is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Gu ...
was to have portrayed Slick in a movie, ''Tom Slick: Monster Hunter'', but the project stalled.
Art collection
Slick was an avid collector of modern art. His collection was surveyed by the
McNay Art Museum
The McNay Art Museum, founded in 1954 in San Antonio, is the first modern art museum in the U.S. state of Texas. The museum was created by Marion Koogler McNay's original bequest of most of her fortune, her important art collection and her 24-roo ...
with an exhibition and catalogue titled ''Tom Slick: International Art Collector''.
Death
On October 6, 1962, Slick was returning from a Canadian hunting trip when his airplane crashed in Montana. Reportedly, the aircraft disintegrated in flight. A wing broke off in violent wind shear over the mountains.
["Texas Oil Magnate Dies In Air Crash", ''Miami News'', October 5, 1962, p1]
References
Sources
Biographies
"Slick, Thomas Baker Jr." Texas State Historical Association
*
Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman (born July 12, 1947) is an American cryptozoologist who has written over 40 books on a number of topics, including the pseudoscience and subculture of cryptozoology.
Early life
Coleman was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and grew up in ...
, ''Tom Slick and the Search for Yeti'', Faber & Faber, 1989,
*Loren Coleman, ''Tom Slick: True Life Encounters in Cryptozoology'', Fresno, California: Linden Press, 2002,
*Catherine Nixon Cooke, ''Tom Slick, Mystery Hunter'', Paraview, Inc., 2005, (author is Slick's niece and former director of the Mind Science Foundation)
External links
*
Mind Science Foundation biographyat the
University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
Tom Slick and peace
Patents
*, ''Mill for Cutting Feathers'', filed May 1945, issued May 1949
*, ''Brush Puller'', filed August 1947, issued December 1950
*, ''Apparatus for erecting a building'', (
lift-slab construction), filed July 1948, issued August 1955
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slick, Tom
1916 births
1962 deaths
Accidental deaths in Montana
Cryptozoologists
People from San Antonio
Phillips Exeter Academy alumni
Yale University alumni
Harvard University alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1962
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the United States