At the bustling Safeway under bright fluorescent lights, the constant beeps of self-checkout machines fill the air as customers navigate the busy station. Employee Tom Edison stands attentively to help those in need. With a sincere smile lighting up his face, he offers customers a patient hand and kind words, making each interaction a personal connection. He holds his new poetry book, Letters to Goethe, and is enthused to show friends and acquaintances his first physical copy. 

Edison, a grocery clerk, poet and visual artist, was born in 1972 in Riverside, California. He earned a BA in English Literature at the University of California, Riverside, in 2001 and worked for a video store for 14 years before moving to Eugene in 2015. Known for his warm demeanor and genuine interactions with regular customers at Safeway, Edison is also the author of five self-published poetry books.

“I arrived in Eugene on Thanksgiving — literally just after midnight,” Edison says. That marked the beginning of his new life, a change forced by a need for a fresh start. “I had some friends here, and I was dealing with a really traumatic family situation. My younger brother, who was struggling with severe mental illness, made my life unbearable,” he says.

Edison’s brother suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, and after their mother’s passing in 2012, his mental health began to decline. He cycled in and out of hospitals, got involved in petty crime and grew physically violent.

“He would come to my workplace and he began causing a lot of trouble for me at work, harassing me and sometimes attacking me,” Edison says. “There was one particular night when my brother seriously threatened me and it ended up in a physical fight outside my workplace. I literally feared for my life.” That night in September 2015, Edison made a call that changed everything. He reached out to his longtime friends and former video store co-workers, Nathan and Julie, a couple in Eugene who had previously invited him to move here. By late November, he left Riverside behind. 

Though the transition wasn’t easy, Eugene provided him with a safe space to heal from the chaos. “I love my brother very much and think about him deeply every day. But I couldn’t remain in that terrible situation forever,” he says. “Moving to Eugene immediately removed me from that stress.” 

Within months, Edison landed his first job at Plato’s Closet, a thrift store where he started connecting with the community. He made his first new friend within weeks, became a regular at local bars, and even hosted an art show at The Horse Head, where he sold paintings — including one for $500. Moving to Eugene allowed him to rebuild his creative spirit.

“Once I got my own apartment downtown I was really able to start focusing on my biggest life goal, which is to finally publish all the books I had been writing for the last 30 years. I feel that moving to Eugene was one of the most fortunate, positive and life-changing decisions I have ever made in my life, and I’m very grateful for my friends who made it possible,” he says.

Edison’s brightly lit apartment resembles an art gallery. Shelves filled with books like The Great Gatsby and works by Plato and Nietzsche line one wall. Posters of bands like The Smiths and his own original paintings cover the others. In one corner of the room, a file cabinet and a three-foot-high stack of printer paper filled with his notes and ideas are a testament to his organization amidst the creative chaos. 

High school played a big role in Edison’s realizing his passions. He recalls his art and English teachers who opened up new worlds for him. “I remember writing a research paper on Percy Shelley in my senior year,” he recalls, “and after my presentation, my teacher told the class, ‘This is an example of how it should be done.’” These moments pushed him to keep writing and painting even when he doubted himself. 

Since then, Edison has written more than 30 books, including 20 poetry collections, a full-length play, two screenplays, and works of philosophy and science fiction. His poetry draws on his personal experiences, and each book is organized by the time period in which it was written. The covers feature his original artwork or photographs of him from when the poems were created. 

His latest book is a collection of poems first drafted in 1994, when Edison was 22 years old. The cover features an oil painting of his girlfriend from the early ’90s, and lifelong friend, Jill, who has inspired many of his works. The title reflects the influence of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German poet who shaped much of Edison’s thinking and writing.

Though he has a deep involvement in art, Edison also finds joy in the everyday mundanity of life. Working as a grocery store clerk at Safeway for almost eight years now, he loves the small daily interactions with others. “I love meeting cool people. That’s all I do all day,” he laughs. For Edison, his job is not just a way to pay the bills — it’s another way to stay connected with his community and find inspiration. 

Larry Fishman, a longtime friend who met Edison at Safeway eight years ago, describes him as an exceptional yet humble artist. “He’s brilliant, but he doesn’t flaunt it. He talks to people and smiles — he doesn’t just spew out philosophy all day.” Fishman, who has read all of Edison’s poetry books, finds his work deeply honest and layered. “His poems are very personal, and sometimes it’s hard to know what every word means to him, but that’s what makes them so compelling.”

Edison maintains a deep sense of spirituality, influencing his writing and outlook on life. “Ever since I was a little boy, I always believed in God,” he says. His poetry explores themes of faith, philosophy and the search for meaning, combining his personal experiences with broader existential questions.

His grounded sense of purpose and his passion for connecting with others define Edison’s philosophy. “I want to have a modest life — just enough to live in relative comfort and serve other people in the process,” Edison says. “I feel like things are in a state of flow right now. I’m not lacking anything.”

Edison plans to give a reading of excerpts from his works in the near future, and his poetry books are available on Amazon.