Tom Andersen is no longer with us

Tuesday May 15th in the evening he was walking his dog Chico by the ocean at Høvåg on the southern coast of Norway where his family owns a summer cabin, which he built with his own hands. He slipped on the rocks and fell, hitting his head. He died from the injuries.
The next day he was supposed to go to Prague to participate at his last board meeting of IFTA, where he would have proposed plans to modernise the organisation.
We are in shock and grief that Tom is gone. He reformed our thoughts and practices on reflection as a phenomenon and a as movement. Norway as well as the world have lost Tom, the human being. His warmth and intense closeness to all he met, made us feel very much seen and taken in by him, and thus he was an inspiration to try to go on to make a kinder, friendlier and a more human world.
We still have his many contributions to our field and to our politics. He helped us listen to many voices, also to our own. And he reminded us to reach out to the world, to those who need us, not to impose, but to listen to their stories so they may find ways to go on. He wanted to go where people are and help them come together. We must comfort ourselves, and cherish the spirit he gave us, the respect and the ethics, his calmness and willingness to listen.
Our thoughts go to Tom's family, to his wife Anne, their children Siri, Sjur, Simen and Sille, and their grandchildren.

A civic funeral service was held for Tom, Friday May 25, at 12.30 p.m. in Nye Krematorium, Vestre Gravlund in Oslo.

Hans Chr. Michaelsen

Tom Andersen er død

Tirsdag 15. mai om kvelden gikk han tur med hunden sin, Chico, ved sjøen i Høvåg på Sørlandet der familien har hytte, som Tom selv har bygget. Her har han falt og slått hodet slik at han døde av skadene.
Dagen etter skulle han ha reist til Praha og deltatt på sitt siste styremøte i IFTA, hvor han ville legge frem forslag til å demokratisere organisasjonen.
Vi er i sjokk og i sorg over at Tom er borte. Han har reformert våre tanker og vår praksis om refleksjon som fenomen og som bevegelse. Norge og verden har mistet mennesket Tom, som var nærværende, vennlig og lyttende. Vi har fortsatt hans inspirasjon til å gå videre, til å dra dit noen trenger oss og hjelpe dem til å hjelpe hverandre.
Våre tanker går til Toms familie, til hans hustru Anne, deres barn Siri, Sjur, Simen og Sille, og deres barnebarn.

Borgerlig begravelse ble holdt fredag 25. mai kl. 12.30 i Nye krematorium, Vestre Gravlund, Oslo.

Det er i anledning Toms bortgang også opprettet et minnefond i hans navn. Les mer her.

Hans Chr. Michaelsen