What You Give Away, You Keep Forever

By Tom Farrell

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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H3MM6ZN6
• ISBN13: 9798218652500
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Future Leaders of Maine Press
• Length: 86 Pages
• Weight: 0.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 5.5" x 8.5"