By Bob Mihell
Sault This Week
ONTARIO — The retirement plan for Vern Thibedeau and wife Sheila included the purchase of a fifth wheel trailer and truck.
The couple decided to hit the road and experience some travel after Vern ended a 26-year-career with Correctional Service Canada in 1999 where he worked in a variety of federal prisons and positions from front line officer to senior correctional officer in maximum security.
Rolling around in his mind also was an idea that he’d like to try to write down some of his experiences as a correctional officer both for personal reasons, and to give readers an accurate glimpse into a world that most people know little about and certainly don’t want to enter.
“I wanted to write down, from my point of view, some of what I went through during my career,” Vern said. “People have asinine ideas about what goes on in prisons, mostly from movies and the media. I thought if they read it, they might get a better idea of what correctional staff do.”
Vern said his friends and former colleagues encouraged him to follow through, and the result is the publication of his first book, titled, The Door a 300-page personal memoir describing his career working inside some of Canada’s most dangerous prisons. Published a little over a year ago, the book is available online at any number of book sites including Indigo, and can be ordered also on his website: www.vernthibedeauthedoor.com.
Full story: Ex-prison guard writes memoir to clear up ‘asinine ideas’