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TOM SIMS

Program
Legends & Lore®
Subject
Legend, People
Location
Jack L Ray Park, 129 River Rd, Gadsden, AL 35901, USA
Lat/Long
33.99414, -86.001438
Grant Recipient
Coosa Riverkeeper
Historic Marker

TOM SIMS

Inscription

TOM SIMS
1896-1972. ONE OF THE WRITERS
OF "POPEYE" COMIC, INSPIRED BY
LIFE & PEOPLE ON COOSA RIVER
INCLUDING FATHER, CAPTAIN OF
GADSDEN STEAMBOAT "LEOTA."
ALABAMA FOLKLIFE ASSOCIATION
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2024

The Coosa River, an approximately 280-mile tributary of the Alabama River that winds through the states of Alabama and Georgia, served as a source of inspiration for Tom Sims (1896-1972), a writer for the Popeye comic strip. Born on the banks of the Coosa River, Sims took over writing the stories for Popeye after the original creator’s death in 1938 and wrote for the comic until 1954. In an interview published in 1944 in The Coosa River Valley by Hughes Reynolds, Sims recalled:

As a boy I was raised on the Coosa River. When I began writing the script for Popeye I put my characters back on the old “Leota” that I knew as a boy, transformed it into a ship and made the Coosa River a salty sea.

According to The Coosa River Valley, the steamship Leota was captained by Sim’s father, and was built by the Coosa River Iron Company of Gadsden, Alabama. It was used to push barges loaded with wood and later in the building of dams on the Coosa River. Sims maintained a nearly lifelong connection to the Coosa Valley and used his personal experiences with the cultural heritage, beliefs, and customs that define life and people on the Coosa River in his work for Popeye. Sims passed away in 1972 not far from his beloved river in Anniston, Alabama.