Elmira District Secondary School has a long history as a small school with a big impact. That was the thinking behind the Legendary Lancers, a book by author Nancy Silcox, on some of the movers and shakers to have passed through the modest halls of the Elmira school. The book is being launched at an event this Sunday, and will be sold at the EDSS front desk afterwards.
“These are stories of people who have gone to a smaller high school and have been successful,” said EDSS principal Paul Morgan.
“It’s an opportunity to highlight how what you learn in four or five years in high school can make a difference and can set you up for success down the road. They’re really fascinating stories.”
Each profile is only a few pages long, he notes, and could be read in a single sitting.
“Those things, you could sit down and read in 15 minutes easy – probably in ten minutes, most of them – and just learn a ton about what the school’s all about.”
The book profiles 49 individuals, mostly EDSS alumni but a few teachers as well, who went on from their time at the rural school to make a difference, whether that’s locally, in Waterloo or Ontario, or even on the international stage.
“Probably the most well known internationally is Malcolm Gladwell,” said Morgan.
Gladwell, the internationally renowned author of New York Times bestsellers The Tipping Point and Blink, as well as other works, had his beginnings right here in Elmira.
“There were a couple of stories that really were interesting with Malcolm,” said Legendary Lancers author Nancy Silcox. One involved the author back in his halcyon days at EDSS organizing a protest after learning that the school’s beloved principal was being transferred, as principals often are.
“And so Malcolm and his buddies decided they were going to arrange a protest march. They hired about three or four busses that were packed with Elmira kids and it went down to the education centre – the Waterloo Region education centre – and they had foghorns and they had noise-makers and there were about 300 kids there and they marched around education centre, calling on the board chair to come out and talk to them,” she chuckled.
The whole affair became front-page news for The Record, showing early on the young author’s penchant for the limelight. But Malcolm Gladwell is only the most famous of the lot.
“We have an airline pilot, we have professional singers, we have dramatic arts people, we have other authors, we have local business people,” said Morgan. There’s Paul Straus, the president of Home Hardware Stores Ltd.; Garrett Rank, the NHL referee and professional golf player.
Silcox adds a few other names to the list.
“You’ve got Ken Seiling, of course, the [Waterloo] regional chair. You’ve got Paul Frey who was a world class opera singer. You’ve got Roger Martin who was the dean of the Rotman School of Economics. Sarah Mercey, an animator who worked on many of the Disney Films.”
The book mostly focuses on the students, but there are a few well-known teachers as well that made the cut.
“Bill Exley … I had more stories about Mr. Exley than any other person. He retired a couple years ago but he is very famous,” said Silcox. “Gord Davis, drama teacher, was responsible for the years that EDSS was pretty much the top drama school in Ontario.
“I want people also to have a lot of fun reading these stories. There’s a lot of humour in it. Malcolm’s story about the walk on the education centre is only one. There’s a lot of funny, funny stories. It’s not heavy – the stories are about three or four pages long, there are 50 of them. It’s reading that you can pick up and put down,” said Silcox.
To bring the Legendary Lancers into fruition, Morgan met with Silcox shortly before EDSS celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2014.
A frequent author of historical biographies, Silcox wrote her first book in 2009 titled Roads of the Heart. The book was a collection of profiles on people born and raised in the Waterloo-Wilmot area she described as having “gone the road less travelled” in their lives. She produced a few more full-length biographies, including of local midwife Elsie Cressman.
Before Legendary Lancers, she wrote biographical collections for other schools, including Waterloo Oxford, where she was a teacher, St. Mary’s and Eastwood.
“I decided that that was it. I was done, I had other things I wanted to do,” said Silcox about after she wrote her Eastwood book.
“And then I thought, you know there’s so many really, really exceptional people that went to Elmira District Secondary School, including Malcolm Gladwell, who is only one of many people who have become world-class individuals, and so I gave in and I did one last one.”
So, about three-and-a-half years ago, Silcox began working on the collection that would become Legendary Lancers.
Principal Morgan organized a committee of EDSS retirees to brainstorm people for Silcox to interview for her book.
After the writing was complete, Silcox returned her manuscript to EDSS where a class of Grade 12 students edited and organized the work. The book was sent to a professional production company for some final tweaks, and is now ready for its debut at the book launch November 19.
Silcox says she is hoping the book will inspire residents to cherish the local school’s strong tradition of academics.
“Elmira has always had an amazing reputation for scholarship, for excellent teaching, and people need to be really proud when they read the book. The book isn’t about the school, but the school is in the background,” she said.
Silcox notes just how valuable growing up in the townships and attending EDSS was to the people she profiled.
“They all appreciated the feeling of living in Elmira as kids and feeling safe. I mean they were ready to leave once they graduated from high school, right? But everyone of them said it was a place where we all felt we could be safe and grow healthily and it was a good surrounding,” said Silcox.
The book launch is being held at EDSS Sunday at 2 p.m. Silcox will be there, as well as a number of other EDSS alumni. Anyone interested in attending is asked to contact the school ahead of time to confirm. Otherwise, those hoping to pick up a copy of Legendary Lancers after the date need only head to the EDSS front desk where they will be on sale for $40.
Silcox notes that all the money from the book sales go back to EDSS for further programming.
“I don’t take a penny,” she said.
“Why do I do this? I don’t know, fun. I’m a retired teacher. I feel strongly about education, and so all the sales of the book will go back to the school for a scholarship or for whatever they need the money for.”
