Windsor principal reflects on his years in local education system with new novel
David Garlick's book, 'The Principal Chronicles,' combines fiction and non-fiction
"I'm not usually an angry or frustrated person," David Garlick recalls of the way he felt when hearing news at the beginning of the pandemic.
That's why he turned to his files of his time in the education system, as a student, teacher and administrator to look for stories that might bring about a smile during an otherwise dark period.
"I was able to find 40 things that I could expand back into the stories that I used to tell other teachers [and] my wife until she got sick of hearing them and then I wrote them out," he said.
Garlick based his book, The Principal Chronicles, on his 33 years of teaching — most of which was for the Greater Essex County District School Board. During that time, he was also a vice principal for three years and spent 14 as a senior principal in the system, most of it at J.L. Forster High School.
WATCH: Garlick talks about his career, new book
"Consciously I don't describe what a school looks like [or] what a classroom looks like because I think for most people they remember what theirs look like" he said. "I want everybody who opens the book to think of themselves in that situation."
While the inspiration for the stories comes from his experiences working in schools, he said that they are a mixture of fiction and non-fiction.
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"I don't really want to tell you or anybody really, which stories are true and which ones are fiction. I tried to write them the same way so it's difficult to tell."
Even in retirement, Garlick said he misses teaching and working with kids.
"Teaching is the best job that there is," he said.
Garlick said he will receive the first 500 books to sell himself in February. He said he's also in touch with some local independent book shops to sell the novel and it will also be available through online book vendors.