Tom Petty's Florida
Become "A Tom Petty Scholar"
By digging deeper in your research into the life and music of Tom Petty, perhaps you too will be dubbed "a Tom Petty Scholar" by Jon Scott, author of Tom Petty and Me: My Rock ‘n’ Roll Adventures with Tom Petty.
Tom Petty's life, legacy, and footprints
Petty: The Biography
Conversations with Tom Petty
Conversations with Tom Petty
Zanes, Warren. (2015) Petty: The Biography. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Conversations with Tom Petty
Conversations with Tom Petty
Conversations with Tom Petty
Zollo, Paul. (2024) Conversations with Tom Petty: Expanded Edition. London: Omnibus Press.
Tom Petty and Me
Conversations with Tom Petty
Runnin’ Down a Dream
Scott, Jon. (2018) Tom Petty and Me: My Rock ‘n’ Roll Adventures with Tom Petty. Sherman Oaks, Calif.: CB Publishing.
Runnin’ Down a Dream
Tom Petty: Essays on Life, Work
Runnin’ Down a Dream
Zanes, Warren, editor. (2007). Runnin’ Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. (companion book for Peter Bogdanovich’s four-hour documentary, “Runnin’ Down a Dream”)
Music Everywhere
Tom Petty: Essays on Life, Work
Tom Petty: Essays on Life, Work
Jourard, Marty. (2016) Music Everywhere: The Rock and Roll Roots of a Southern Town. Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Florida.
Tom Petty: Essays on Life, Work
Tom Petty: Essays on Life, Work
Tom Petty: Essays on Life, Work
Sands, Crystal D. editor. (2019) Tom Petty: Essays on the Life and Work. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Company.
“Tom Petty: 1950-2017”
“Tom Petty: Ultimate Guide to Music & Legend”
“Tom Petty: Ultimate Guide to Music & Legend”
Fricke, David. (Nov. 2, 2017) “Tom Petty: 1950-2017.” Rolling Stone, issue 1299, pp. 14-21.
“Tom Petty: Ultimate Guide to Music & Legend”
“Tom Petty: Ultimate Guide to Music & Legend”
“Tom Petty: Ultimate Guide to Music & Legend”
“Tom Petty: The Ultimate Guide to His Music & Legend.” Special Collectors Edition of Rolling Stone, Feb. 26, 2015. It was also packaged as a Special Tribute Edition, Jan. 12. 2018.
A special thank you
"My Adventure Partner" -- Keith Harben about Tom Petty
Document and preserve, that's what Tom Petty Trail is attempting to do with Tom Petty's Florida history. Helpful in this preservation have been the above books along with networking with fellow fans at Facebook's Tom Petty Nation.
But I wish to give a special thank you to Keith Harben, who was Tom Petty's lifelong friend who grew up a stone's throw from Tom's childhood home. Tom was "my adventure partner," Keith told me. "There was never a dull moment, which is good."
Keith was instrumental in getting the city to rename Northwest Park, where he and Tom would regularly play as kids, with its current name of Tom Petty Park. And it was Keith who came up with the idea for the annual Tom Petty Weekend (https://www.visitgainesville.com/tompetty/) in mid-October, held around the time of Tom's 1950 birthday, Oct. 20 -- nine days after Keith's, Oct. 11.
Keith is one heck of a nice guy. It's no wonder that he was Tom's lifelong friend. But to me, Keith Harben is the true Tom Petty Scholar.
Thank you, Keith, for the ongoing conversation.