Local Author Tells Stories from History in New Textbook

Book signing at Darvill’s Wednesday, June 25 at 6 p.m.

— by Margie Doyle —

David Turnoy, Teacher, Historian and Author of American Tales

Local author David Turnoy is convinced that stories will teach the lessons of history better than dry, factually overburdened textbooks. And so this retired teacher wrote American Tales: Stories of America’s Past for the Young People of Today. Turnoy will read from the first volume of these stories, published this spring, at Darvill’s Book Store on Wednesday, June 25.

American Tales follows six students in an after-school enrichment class as they travel through time with their teacher, Mr. B, to explore how past events determine current situations. “They learn how a number of myths and legends… are not always exactly accurate but that the real facts may actually be more inspiring. As you travel with these students and learn from the past, you can use the knowledge you gain to help in creating a better future.”

The book is written with Middle School Students and Young Adults in mind. It also presents a variety of perspectives from the students own backgrounds to enlighten well-known, but incompletely understood, incidents in American history. As one of the time-traveling students says in the book, “It strikes closer to home when it’s your people being mistreated.”

“The telling of history is colored by our own experience and agenda,” Turnoy says.

American Tales, stories of America’s Past for the Young People of Today, now available at Darvill’s Bookstore

Some of the scenarios visited by this middle-school enrichment class in Volume I of American Tales are:

• The American Revolution
• The Writing of the Constitution
• Indian Removal and the Trail of Tears
• The Mexican War
• The Civil War
• Reconstruction

Turnoy, who with his wife Geri moved to Orcas Island permanently three years ago, says,  “I see the teaching of history as  of a tool for progressive change.” He views historian Howard Zinn, author of “A People’s History of the United States,” as an example of presenting history to change things for the better. As well as Zinn, Turnoy’s been affected by Lies My Teacher Told Me,  by James Loewen, and says, “School boards are often motivated to approve the purchase of bland, non-controversial books that leave out a lot of stuff.”

He wanted to give teachers a tool for teaching history in a way that’s interesting to read, like a story. He describes the book as historical fiction, written in speech that “would sound like dialogue in my classroom.”

“We can’t understand how the present came to be without knowing history,” Turnoy says. His long term goal is to see progressive change happen, He has learned that this change happens, not as the result of individuals but of people banding together.

He calls current times “the second Gilded Age,” with corporations as the new Robber Barons. “Do we have values that govern what we do, or does he who dies with the most toys win?” he asks. Still he’s hopeful, “as long as people have opportunity to participate and make progress  happen — but not any time soon, with people working so hard just to make ends meet.”

He sees public education as “the great leveler, if given the resources it deserves, Public schools can do the job, he says. “In many states, if you compare charter to public schools, the public schools do better.”

Turnoy had studied at law school, driven truck and delivered water before he became a teacher at 39. He credits his maturity with part of the success both as a student — finding his masters in education program more intense than law school — and as a teacher. “I loved it, and I spun off the students’ energy, the good dialogue, and seeing them succeed.”

Writing American Tales  is a continuation of teaching, Turnoy says. He started writing the book in late 2011, shortly after moving to Orcas. He worked late at night while living in Driftwood Apartments, researching different authors and accounts of historic events, taking into account their backgrounds and commonalities. The project was put on hold while building their house. When he went back to it, the book became a project  of “revising and revising and revising,”

American Tales is available in hardback ($25.95)and paperback ($15.95). The e-book is also available on Amazon.