sssss Singing... From my earliest remembered thoughts, I loved music. As a six-year-old in 1954, my favorite song was "Doggie In The Window" by Patti Page. I played the 45 rpm record of it over and over. Then I decided I would sing it a capela for my mom. So, with no a capela rehearsal, I waltzed into the kitchen and proceeded to sing it -- but not very well; I had the words down but the melody eluded me in places. I remember thinking at that moment that singing without the aid of the vocalist on the record was, well, difficult. But I kept at it as a lifelong pursuit and now view myself as a high-quality singer in several genres. My life was altered irretrievably the first time I heard Little Richard sing "Slippin' and Slidin'" and "Long Tall Sally" and "Tutti Frutti."
sssss Playing... After becoming the lead singer in my first rock 'n' roll band at age 15, I was asked by the band to learn keyboards, so I undertook the task. I soon graduated from Wurlitzer electric piano to organ, eventually to a Hammond B3 complete with Leslie as I moved from band to band, but within a few years I had begun playing acoustic guitar because it was such a better instrument to accompany singing in so many different contexts: playing in a band, playing solo, etc. After all these years, I view myself as a good rhythm guitar player, and I still play keyboards. I have sung and played in bands on and off my whole life. Of great significance to me is that all six of us from the rock 'n' roll band I played in during my senior year in high school, "The New Continentals," were invited to play our Hall High School Class of 1966 40th reunion. The picture on the top left is us in 1966 playing the graduation dance in the parking lot of War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, and the picture below that is us playing the 40th reunion at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock in 2006.
sssss Songwriting... I wrote my first song at age nine, and I'd give anything if the lyrics had survived. I remember struggling with some sort of melody at the time, but all of it is a very distant memory. I do recall doing it, though, and I recall its appropriate title for me in 4th grade -- "My Girlfriend" (wish I could remember who she was). I also recall writing it at my school desk, a definite reflection of my relationship to school at the time. I wrote my next song while in college; it was called "Tumbleweeds." I still have it, but I have no idea what it means. During college, I did my first co-writing, with a great guy named George Biard who died a few years later in a drowning accident in an Arkansas river. Just after college, I wrote several songs about a lost love. Failing to win her back with them, I gave up songwriting for many years, writing only a single song a few years later while in graduate school about unrequited love (also unsuccessfully winning her over). More than a decade later, in 1983, I moved to Nashville to represent, as a lawyer, the operations and production arm of Country Music Television. Being around all that music was invigorating, and I then started writing songs seriously. Since then, I have written about 150 "keepers," many with upwards of 20 co-writers. A few have been released on others' albums but nothing recognizable. But I keep trying. Check out my music publishing company website at www.solidsterlingmusic.com.
sssss Novel Writing... As is true of countless lawyers (according to literary agents I know), after reading John Grisham's The Firm, I told myself: "Hell, you can do that." So I did. My novel, Oedipus Tex, mainstream fiction, was published in 2001 by Xlibris, a strategic partner of Random House. Interested readers will find it at www.amazon.com. In my "spare" time, I'm writing a direct sequel to Oedipus Tex titled Liberation of the Secret Kind, and I'm writing an indirect sequel to Oedipus Tex titled Unfathomable Depth (intelligent science fiction). Believe me, I'll make note here of their completion and hoped-for publication.
sssss Non-Fiction Writing... Also in various stages of progress are several non-fiction works. Their titles are Surviving Work, Avoiding Life's Big Mistakes, Patent Frenzy: Look Before You Leap, and Lawsuits Plaintiffs Never Win. All these topics are things I am passionate about, and I will finish these works when time permits. I've also published a considerable number of academic things, but that's a whole 'nother story.
sssss Motion Picture Photography... Given my creative bent, I majored in journalism in college and was a television and wire service reporter for four years before I went to law school. Music, actually, led me to my first professional television gig. During college, I was playing and singing in a sort of "folk" duet with George Biard, performing only original material. I also was playing rhythm guitar and singing background vocals on recording sessions at a local recording studio. When a local TV "morning" show was looking for musical talent to feature, George and I got the gig. While at the station, I checked out the newsroom and, as they say, the rest is history. On the day I went to work in that newsroom, I was introduced to 16mm motion-picture photography, and I was hooked. Since then, I have shot everything from syndicated television programs to documentaries to industrial videos to music videos and much else. My footage has appeared on regular broadcast networks and on cable networks. Currently, as the co-owner of Equulus LLC, I am still heavily involved in videography -- at this point, the high-definition, wide-screen variety. Technologically, it's been quite a ride. I still enjoy it. Check out www.equulus.com.
sssss Still Photography... During a later period when I wasn't involved in videography on a routine basis, I took up still photography. While I can call myself a professional still photographer because one of my photographs graces the cover of a package of wildflower seeds (I think I got paid in seeds), I mostly just enjoy the freedom of shooting nature (mostly flowers and marine and other mammals). Some of these photographs are featured on this site. Click on "Photography" above, then click on the links to the stills.

sssss Click on the buttons above for more information on any of these topics... Thank you for visiting my website.

Note: Because there are a dozen or two folks with the name "Don Tomlinson" in the U.S. and the UK, I should make clear that I'm the one who grew up in Little Rock and who has lived in Texas since 1985. Because of some confusion, I specifically want to note that country singer/songwriter Trent Tomlinson's father is one of the other "Don Tomlinsons" and probably the most famous of us all -- as an All-American basketball player at the University of Missouri in the late 1960s, as a player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA, and as Trent's dad. The "Missouri" Don and I are the same age, and we are acquaintances. Nice folks all around. Haven't met Trent yet, but I, of course, am a big fan. Check out www.trenttomlinson.com