My father Jim Mabry Sr., passed away earlier this week. He was 94. Obituary here.

After a career in the shoe business, he retired and pursued a passion for flowers and landscape arrangements throughout Fountain City and north Knox County. He helped my Central High School classmate Mike Blankenship teach Halls High students the beauty of flowers and by all accounts they loved him for it.

It was a far cry from his outstanding career selling Buster Brown, Stride Rite and Robin Hood shoes on the road.

His son, the Honey Badger, tried to retire but that didn’t work out so well. A passion for hiking and waterfalling led to documenting those adventures in images and a photographer was born.

I had a past of great successes (together with some notable failures) but I never gave up. Such was the legacy passed on from a father and a family who respected achievement.

When my photo A Hawksbill Dream appeared on the cover of a nationally known magazine, Jim’s response was “I’m glad you finally made something of your life, Tom.” I suppose he was referring to my Act III without saying so. A stroke had diminished his ability to communicate, but he never gave up until his body gave out.

He said what was on his mind and let me know he was proud of my achievement. That’s all that really mattered and that he was able to see my other internationally recognized photo Butterscotch Sunset from his deathbed – that was the September entry on my 2024 Southern Appalachian Images Calendar that hung in his room as he transitioned.

His nurses said he took great pride in my photography. I’m honored that he did so. He was proud that his son – now known as the Badger – never gave up pursuing his newfound dream.

Thomas Mabry – Honey Badger Images

Many of the HoneyBadgerImages are on display at instagram.com/honeybadgerimages