Can one place hold all your dreams? Our Lake Superior Northland is that place for Thomas Wayne King. Tom knows that, for him, this land of Eagle skies, cold clear lakes and streams, and deep, cool forests is the best place on Earth.
Tom’s creative and scholarly works tell and teach of this place through writings and music. He focuses on this pristine land he loves — this place of which he and his family, through six generations, are so much a part. Tom creates authentic stories of the North, weaving facts, fun, fiction and history into his tales, essays, original poems, raps, and songs, as well as his elegant instrumental music about true northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ontario, and Michigan. He speaks for and about the Northland, this always-challenging, breath-taking region surrounding Lake Superior, the greatest of the Great Lakes.
With his eclectic, multi-talented group of songwriters and musicians, Hallbjorn, Tom creates and records new music, and performs spoken word and music concerts of the North, featuring modern and historical tales and ideas with unique interpretations. He writes: “We always hope our written words, along with our original songs, raps, and instrumentals, help others to learn about and fall in love with our incredible, precious Northland.”
Tom lives his creativity near the ancient shores, portages, wilderness trails, and canoe routes of Upper St. Croix Lake in Solon Springs, headwaters of the St. Croix River, and not far from the shores of Lake Superior in northwestern Wisconsin. As the great (and great-great) grandson and descendant of early pioneer settlers and mixed-heritage peoples of North America, as well as of original post-Civil-War homesteaders of northwestern Wisconsin, Tom celebrates his Northland paradise each day. He and Debra revel in their active outdoor Northland lives throughout all seasons, as they run, hike, ski, and skate near their old-growth- forest home. They also raise their fluffy, tenacious wool flock of registered Icelandic Sheep at their primitive Sunny Cove Farm, overlooking western Lake Superior, and the harbors of Duluth, MN, and Superior, WI. Tom and Debbi and their family share their joy of this place in a fun, insightful, often poignant and beautiful words, songs, and music…and through Debra’s creative fiber art. Be sure to check out her work at www.SunnyCoveFarmandStudios.com
Tom’s career and life’s work have been in speech-language pathology, assistive technology, rehabilitation medicine, and adapted literacy access. He is a retired clinical speech-language pathologist and is professor emeritus of communication sciences and disorders at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. During his professional career as a clinician, academic, and eclectic author, Tom has written, published and presented hundreds of diverse, original works, including textbooks, popular books, chapters, articles, stories, poems, raps, songs, and instrumentals. All of them range across numerous scientific, academic, clinical, historical, popular and fun topics.