What You Give Away, You Keep Forever
Published on 1. June 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
86 pages
979-8-218-65250-0 (ISBN)
Description
What does it actually mean to lead? Not in theory - in practice, in the hallways of a school, in a disciplinary meeting, in the last minutes of a losing game. Dr. Tom Farrell spent fifty years answering that question as a teacher, coach, and superintendent across Maine, Colorado, and Taiwan. This is his story, told in his own words, with a foreword by his sons and tributes from the students, colleagues, and communities whose lives he changed.
Raised in a working-class mill town in western Maine, Farrell went on to lead schools in some of the most different communities imaginable - transforming each one through the same simple conviction: that leadership begins not with authority, but with presence. That the greatest thing a leader can do is make the people around them believe they are capable of more than they thought.
Published by Future Leaders of Maine Press. Every copy sold supports the Future Leaders of Maine Foundation scholarship and leadership programs in his honor.
More details
Language
English
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight
121 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-218-65250-0 (9798218652500)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dr. Tom Farrell spent fifty years as a teacher, coach, and schoolleader in some of the most different communities in America. Hegrew up in Rumford, Maine, the son of a teacher and coach, andwent on to lead schools in central Maine, Aspen, Colorado, andKaohsiung, Taiwan - transforming each one and leaving behindstaffs, students, and communities that remembered him long afterhe was gone.He earned his doctorate in educational leadership and servedas a teacher, principal, and superintendent across five decades. Hewas named a National School of Excellence principal by theUnited States Department of Education. He coachedchampionship teams, built award-winning drug preventionprograms, and mentored thousands of students who went on tobecome leaders in their own right.He was also a husband, father, and grandfather - married toDebbie for nearly fifty years, father of Thomas, Lucas, andNicholas, and grandfather of eight, for whom he fought his wayback from cancer and whom he called the reason for everything.Tom passed away on March 17, 2024, in Kennebunk, Maine,surrounded by his family. He was seventy-seven years old.In his honor, his family created the Future Leaders of MaineFoundation, which awards annual scholarships to graduatingMaine high school seniors who plan to attend the University ofMaine. To learn more or to support the Foundation's work, visitfutureleadersofmaine.org.