Local authors a big hit at book fair in Amherstburg Two-day author event featured authors of books for

Adults And Children

By Fred Groves

When David Garlick was looking for something to write about, he didn’t have to look far.

The retired Western Secondary School principal recalled his time as an educator and was able to chronicle 50 short stories into his first book - ‘The Principal Chronicles.’

“During Covid I found myself yelling at the TV, yelling at the newspapers. I was angry and that’s not me,” he said Saturday afternoon during the River Bookshop’s Local Author Book Fair.

So, instead of getting upset with the pandemic, he began to write.

The humourous collection of stories are primarily non-fiction and many of them are based on real-life situations with either him and/or his students.

Garlick says that if there was a particular student that was mentioned in one of the stories, he made sure to reach out to them before the book was published.

“If it was going to embarrass someone, I would change the names. Some of them read it in advance,” said Garlick.

A sequel, or more appropriately tagged, a continuance with more short stories is already in the works and Garlick expects it to be as successful and funny as the first.

He was just one of more than a dozen authors with local connections who did an exceptional job chatting with old and new friends about their books.

The two-day event attracted both fiction and nonfiction authors and on Sunday a special children’s

A local author event was held at the River Bookshop last weekend, with the event lasting both days. Retired principal David Garlick shows his book “The Principal Chronicles” (right). Award winning author Sally Cole-Misch was one of the writers at the Local Author Book Fair on the weekend.

RTT Photos by Fred Groves book read was held.

One of the more celebrated authors was Sally ColeMisch. The former Amherstburg resident wrote “The Best Part of Us,” which, among other accolades, won the prestigious 2021 Canadian Book Club Award for best fiction.

Her book resonates around a family with a deep connection to nature and particular a fictious island on Lake Huron. The story is primarily about a young female and the discovery of indigenous artifacts.

“Nature is the ultimate decider and they have to leave the island,” explained Cole-Misch.

Kevin Shea of Riverside has written many books, primarily about hockey which makes sense as he is the Editorial and Education Facilitator at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.

His recent work is, like many of his books, an autobiography about a professional hockey player - Matthew Barnaby.

“Matthew can talk, he has a lot of stories,” said Shea.

The writer helps organize an annual road hockey tournament with the proceeds to cancer research and that is how he met up with Barnaby.

Souper Sunday