Jack Stilborn
Jack Stilborn showed early promise with a comic story that made a cousin laugh so hard she threw up. He was then deflected by life. Careers included part-time academic (political science); intergovernmental affairs advisor (Ontario government) and research analyst (Parliament). Outside work, he has raised three children with spouse Linda and enjoys eclectic reading, volunteer work, cycling, kayaking (no white water please) and cross-country skiing. Following a period of writing about parliamentary government, he has returned to fiction with a short story that received Honorable Mention in the 2024 Alice Munro Short Story Contest, and with his debut novel, The Tyranny of Good Intentions (coming in 2025).
BOOKS BY THE AUTHOR
A novel about small time politics byJack Stilborn
“Jack Stilborn has written a very funny and thoughtful novel about people, politics, and the never ending quest to do the right thing. The narrator, Andrew Walmer, lurches from one crisis to the next doing his level best to keep his world from spinning right off its axis. I happily joined him for the joyride.” —Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour
Political science lecturer Andrew Walmer thought he could help out by serving on his condominium board. Instead, he finds himself trapped in an endless saga of petty disputes, bizarre rules, and increasingly desperate attempts to escape - all while trying to repair his relationship with his estranged wife Francine, a passionate law professor fighting for social justice, and save his career following an offensive classroom joke that could end his teaching days.
When the board’s iron-fisted president launches a crusade against potted plants, Andrew sees his chance to finally break free. But in the dysfunctional world of condo politics, where every decision is made “in service to the community,” nothing is ever simple. As new crises emerge and board members start dropping like flies, Andrew discovers that getting off a condo board may be even harder than earning forgiveness from Francine - and that his deeper question haunts him still: if people can’t make small organizations work, what hope is there for the big ones?
Warm and witty, The Tyranny of Good Intentions captures central challenges of politics: it involves people, and the people need to agree about decisions. It’s a story about second chances, the complexities of democracy at its most grassroots level, and finding hope in life’s unexpected detours - even if that detour leads straight to the president’s chair.
Other Press:
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Read Pauline Shen’s interview with Jack Stilborn as featured at paulineshen.ca
On Wednesday, September 10, Perfect Books in Ottawa was packed to capacity for the launch of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. The author, Jack Stilborn, opened by expressing relief at the turnout, noting he had heard stories of novel launches attended by only one or two people and admitting that “every author has a paranoid streak” about whether anyone will show up.