草莓污视频导航

Jan. 9, 2023

Retirement meant an end to teaching and a beginning as an author

How a Calgary Board of Education English teacher and 草莓污视频导航 alumnus finally found time to write books in retirement
Retired teacher Keith Worthington
Keith Worthington

After a 34-year career that saw him teach thousands of students in five Calgary schools, Keith Worthington, BEd鈥71, ended his teaching career in 2005 at the age of 55.

Sure, Worthington may have 鈥渞etired鈥 from his career with the Calgary Board of Education, but that hasn鈥檛 meant he鈥檚 just kicked back in his La-Z-Boy ever since.

鈥淚 thought of myself as 鈥榮emi-retired,鈥欌 he explains from his home office, where he has penned three books of poetry and one novel since 2006. But those projects began after he left the CBE and began working part-time at Bow Valley College as a tutor, and at a private golf club where he worked for a few seasons.

鈥淣ot many of us are given the choice to retire at 55,鈥 Worthington says. 鈥淚 knew I wasn鈥檛 finished working or earning money ... it鈥檚 just that I wanted to do something different and only part-time.鈥

Being an English teacher (mostly in junior high schools), Worthington was always a voracious reader. His heroes include American author Richard Ford and dual Canadian-American citizen John Irving. His biggest literary influence was his Grade 12 language arts teacher, Jim Kelly, who treated Worthington and his cohort as 鈥渨riters, not just students.鈥

This approach would one day impact Worthington鈥檚 own teaching style. 鈥淚 was always writing with my students ... whether it was poetry or short memoirs, I was always writing,鈥 he recalls. 鈥淏ut, as a full-time teacher, I never had the time or energy to write a complete book.鈥

A few of Keith's books

A few of Keith's books

That changed in 2006 when he began writing the collection of poems that formed Puffs of Breath, followed by Poet on a Cargo Plane and After the Flood: Hockey Poems. He recently published his first novel, Alex in 鈥63.

Like the advice you often hear about football and life, Worthington keeps his prose and messages simple. Of course, in Alex in 鈥63 you get more complexities in the intertwining of families and friendships among teenage football players, all comfortably set against a familiar Calgary backdrop, than you find in his poetry collections. In Alex, the themes of loyalty, family and independence force the characters to question their allegiances and moral consciences in this big-hearted, 357-page novel.

As for advice on retirement, writing and self-publishing, we caught up with Worthington, who had this to say: 聽

On the subject matter of Alex in 鈥63: 鈥淛unior high is full of angst and confusion. Being a teacher of this age group, I had so many memories I could build on. I don鈥檛 think most of our lives are dramatic enough to be literature. I wanted to fictionalize something I knew ... and I knew junior high kids. Very well.鈥

Where should a person start? 鈥淐reate a body of work, whether that鈥檚 several poems or a chapter of a novel and don鈥檛 feel that you need to have everything planned out. Get feedback on it, don鈥檛 get discouraged and keep doing it.鈥

Advice for a rookie writer? 鈥淚 have a little writers鈥 group made up of former students and colleagues. They help me immensely in terms of what works, what doesn鈥檛 and what to reconsider. Be sure you find people who will give you honest feedback 鈥 not your closest friends. If you need to connect to an organization, there鈥檚 the Alexandra Writers鈥 Guild, Continuing Education courses, and 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 writer-in-residence program also helped me a lot.鈥澛

On a writer鈥檚 discipline and structure: 鈥淚 am not the sort of author who writes 10 to 12 hours a day. Likely why it took four years to write Alex. One year to write it and three to edit.鈥

On publishing methods: 鈥淚 choose to self-publish because getting picked up by a publishing house is a longshot; it鈥檚 sort of like making an Olympic team. There are plenty of challenges with self-publishing, though, such as getting strangers to buy your book. Use every connection you have, and if you can get a retail presence that will help enormously. I was able to sell my first book at Shelf Life Books [in Calgary鈥檚 Beltline] and was able to sell 400 copies that way. It鈥檚 far more competitive now.鈥

On marketing tips: 鈥淧eddle your work wherever you can: libraries, bookstores, Little Libraries [Worthington has dropped off business postcards in his books and left them in neighbourhood Little Library boxes], backcountry lodges (i.e., Skoki Lodge), where people have time to read.鈥

Hardest part of writing? 鈥淵ou need to love it as the writing process is most definitely a marathon. For me, the hardest part is keeping the momentum going in the narrative ... a novel needs to have tension throughout.鈥

About working with his partner: 鈥淢y wife [Renate] is an artist who illustrates my books. We both have our own workspaces and have interests outside these collaborative projects, so it鈥檚 easy.鈥

Retirement advice: 鈥淕oing cold turkey can be hard on some people. Consider a part-time job or developing a hobby before you do anything final. Don鈥檛 be afraid to put yourself out there. You鈥檒l get so much back.鈥

Keith and Renate Worthington's work can be viewed .


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