Sweep You Across for a Penny, Ma’am: Stories from St. John’s and Beyond is a new collection of stories from columnist Tom Furlong. This compilation includes tales about his life in the city, his travels throughout Newfoundland as a customs officer, and his involvement in sports and the scouting movement. In it, the author records a wealth of details on the social fabric of his beloved city and province.

Thomas Edward Furlong was born in 1911 in St. John’s, the first child of Edward T. Furlong of St. John’s and Annie Healy of Fox Harbour, Placentia Bay. He was educated at St. Bonaventure’s College and was the last surviving member of the 1928 graduating class.His work life was as varied as it was interesting, beginning as tenth clerk in the Long Room of His Majesty’s Customs and ending as Executive Director of the Newfoundland Division of the Canadian Mental Health Association.Tom Furlong was involved in many charitable and fraternal organizations, his first being Secretary of the Land Development Association. He was the last surviving member of the Board of the Civil Service C-Operative Credit Society (now known as the Public Service Credit Union). He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and a member of the St. John’s Lions Club. He joined the Boy Scouts in 1936 as a Scoutmaster and served as District Commissioner and District President. He held the Silver Acorn with Bar for his involvement in the Movement. Mr. Furlong also wrote a bi-weekly column on Scouting and may have been the oldest Scout in the country.His writing “career” began at an early age. He has contributed numerous articles to various newspapers and magazines and published two books. He had a spot on CBC’s On the Go program for several years.Tom Furlong was happily married to Gertrude Griffin, and they had five children.

Tom Furlong's profile page