Tom Shaker on The Diner

What’s on the menu? Hearty, home-cooked meals and desserts, of course. Bring your appetite but not a lot of cash. Diners are the true American eating place.

Join Tom Shaker for an exploration of all-things diner, and discover how Walter Scott’s late night, walkup lunch cart in Providence in the 1870s inspired a nationwide craze.

(22 min) https://warwicklibrary.org/breakfast-served-all-day-story-rhode-island-diner

Dr. Tom Shaker is a college professor, a radio DJ, a documentary filmmaker, and an expert on Rhode Island jazz.

His radio show The Soul Serenade, featuring classic soul music from the 1960s and 1970s, airs on WICN on Mondays at 7 p.m.

His award-winning film with Norm Grant Do It, Man! The Story of The Celebrity Club tells the story of the legendary Celebrity Club, the integrated 1950s nightclub in Providence’s Randall Square neighborhood.

His book with Dennis Pratt A Treasury of Rhode Island Jazz & Swing Musicians is a biographical collection of jazz and swing musicians who have played in Rhode Island and a sequel to Who's Who in Rhode Island Jazz: c. 1925-1988 by Rhode Island musicians and historians Lloyd Kaplan and Robert Petteruti.

His book with Lloyd Kaplan In Harmony: Early Vocal Groups Remembered & Celebrated looks at over twenty trailblazing vocal groups, including The Mills Brothers, The Golden Gate Quartet, The Boswell Sisters, and The Delta Rhythm Boys.