Reverse mortgages are generally a poor choice - you need to research them fully enough to see the major downsides. Have you thought about pulling together a collection of Tom's work to donate or sell to a university library? If you can sell it, great, if you can't, give it a good value (this will be high) and take a tax deduction that you can draw down for several years. If you donate a $100,000 collection it also looks great on the spreadsheet of the university, even if no dollars exchange hands.

I have A Room that may be similar to yours, but not quite so eclectic a collection of items for sale. Stuff from family estates that is interesting but I don't collect, so needs to be put in the hands of folks who do.

One source of cash via eBay is those binders I sent - any of them with the piano hinge are called Casebound binders and can bring $30 to $40 a piece. Give it a go!