Sports Poets Society

Her life raising 9 children was told in 1989 film January 15, 2010 | By Trevor Jensen, TRIBUNE REPORTER Mary Thomas' schooling ended with the third grade, but she always reminded her nine children that she had something she called the "mother wit." Whatever that was, it proved equal to the task of raising seven boys and two girls on Chicago's West Side. Mrs. Thomas was determined her children would get the education that escaped her in the segregated South. She worked at a Catholic Church so they could attend the parish school, and she rode herd over their daily assignments. "I realize now, she looked at our homework, and she probably didn't even understand it," said her daughter Ruby Carlsen. The mother of NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas, Mrs. Thomas' story was told in a 1989 made-for-TV movie starring Alfre Woodard. By then, she had left the poorer section of the city behind. But she never forgot where she'd been, and every Thanksgiving and Chri...

Isaiah Thomas speaks during the funeral for the late Aretha Franklin  at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit on Friday, August 31, 2018. RYAN GARZA, DETROIT FREE PRESS https://eu.freep.com/story/entertainment/music/aretha-franklin/2018/08/31/isiah-thomas-aretha-franklin-funeral/1162149002/ MARYANN STRUMAN | Detroit Free Press For NBA great and former Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas, Aretha Franklin was like a surrogate mom. He was introduced to her by his own mom, Mary Thomas, in 1981 when he first joined the Pistons at age 20, Thomas said Friday, recalling his relationship with the Queen of Soul at her homegoing service at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit. His mother and Franklin "somehow connected through music." "In the 60s and 70s, my mom would sit in the windowsill humming the words, I say a little prayer for you," Thomas recalled. "My father had just lost his job, so the music, I say a little prayer for you, meant a lot to us in the household. "Aretha foun...

https://www.chicagotribune.com/1989/12/03/mary-thomas-story-is-a-tale-of-a-mothers-will/ By CHICAGO TRIBUNE PUBLISHED: December 3, 1989 at 1:00 a.m. |  UPDATED: August 8, 2021 at 5:29 p.m. In Mary Thomas` Clarendon Hills ranch house, the painters have taken down photos of her nine children, 31 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren and piled them in boxes . But over a couch in the den still hangs a giant oil painting of her youngest child, dressed in a Detroit Pistons uniform. She calls him ” Junior ,” but he`s known to the rest of the world as basketball superstar Isiah Thomas. Isiah likely arrived at his exalted position as much from his mother`s determination to teach her seven sons and two daughters to do the right thing as from talent. Indeed, Mary Thomas` struggle to rear a family in Chicago`s inner city proved so compelling that it was turned into a two-part movie that airs this Sunday and next on ”The Magical World of Disney” (6 p.m., WMAQ-Ch. 5). "A Mother`s Courage: Th...

UP FROM MEAN STREETS, PISTON HERO ISIAH THOMAS USHERS IN A NEW ERA FOR HIS FAMILY WILLIAM NACK TABLE OF CONTENTS ORIGINAL LAYOUT They were lounging around one day talking about religion, not basketball, and all at once the conversation turned to the afterlife. Isiah Thomas gave the idea a long moment of reflection, and at last he said to his wife, quite earnestly, "Lynn, do you think they have basketball in heaven?" Well, she allowed that, yes, they probably did play hoops in the ever after. "I sure hope they do," mused Isiah. "They've got to have some form of recreation up there. I mean, sitting around eating grapes would be cool for a while, but you have to have something to do. I sure do hope they play ball. If not, I'll be the Naismith of heaven." Isiah Thomas is a romantic , off and on the basketball court, and the game is the central passion in his life. "I'm in love with basketball," Thomas says. "It's my release. It...

https://www.espn.com/chicago/nba/columns/story?columnist=isaacson_melissa&id=4826990 Melissa Isaacson, ESPN.com Jan 14, 2010, 07:09 PM ET They called her "Dear," which was short for "Mother Dear," not to be confused with "Mommie Dearest," but not to be taken too lightly, either. When Mary Thomas died Wednesday morning at age 87, leaving seven children and 50-plus grandchildren and great-grandchildren -- "We really have to count again," said her daughter Ruby Carlsen -- her youngest son Isiah was overwhelmed by the void she leaves. Her sweetness and toughness and love had no limits. One thing is for sure: What Mary Thomas wanted out of life never had a price tag dangling from it. Still, that never stopped Isiah from trying. He bought her a new house in a nice suburb, and she resisted going. He bought her furs, and she would carry them over her arm. Isiah Thomas once treated his mom to a shopping trip along Michigan Avenue, a la the scene from...

https://chicagodefender.com/nba-legend-isiah-thomas-returned-to-chicago-for-street-naming-in-honor-of-his-mother-and-28th-ward-back-2-school-parade-picnic/ rtmadmincd August 15, 2012 The 28th Ward honored the mother of NBA legend Isiah Thomas by renaming Homan Avenue on Chicago’s Westside “Mary Thomas Way.” Ald. Jason C. Ervin (28th) wrote the ordinance for the renaming, stating, “The life of Mary Thomas is a shining example of single mothers who work every day to provide for their children so that they may have a better life.” Thomas attended the dedication in honor of his late mother, for whom Thomas named his Chicago-based foundation, Mary’s Court, which is committed to a comprehensive and long-term relationship with youth within the Chicago community. Thomas and Ervin led the 28th Ward’s annual “Back 2 School” Parade & Picnic Extravaganza. As Grand Marshal, Thomas led the parade to Garfield Park, where school supplies were distributed to the first 2,000 kids and the community h...

Credit... The New York Times Archives https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/11/sports/thomas-keeps-promise-to-mom.html By  Ira Berkow May 11, 1987 IN April 1981, Isiah Thomas, with some trepidation, told his mother that he planned to leave college. Mary Thomas, who raised nine children alone in a Chicago ghetto, protested. Isiah knew it was her dream that he, her youngest child, should earn a college degree, and become the first of her boys to do so. ''Mom, I'm only leaving college basketball for pro basketball,'' said Isiah, then 19 years old. As a 6-foot-1-inch sophomore point guard, he had recently led Indiana to a national championship, and was entering the National Basketball Association draft. ''I'll go back to school, I'll get a degree.'' ''You promise?'' she said. ''I promise,'' said Isiah. ''O.K.,'' she said, ''put it in writing.'' And a legal document was drawn up with a lawy...