In 2019, Brian Gary checked his mail and found a catalog from Harper College’s Community Education program. Impressed, the 59-year-old, who works in information technology and lives just half a mile from the Palatine campus, decided it was the perfect time to enroll. Longing to rekindle his passion for writing, Brian took a course from Harper’s Writing Studio, which offers noncredit classes and workshops ranging from poetry to technical writing.

Flash forward six years later and Brian is a published author who recently debuted his children’s novel at Printer’s Row Lit Fest in Chicago. His book – Acrimons: The Awakening, written under pen name Clayton Keith – will also be featured at the Texas Book Festival in Austin later this year. Brian credits his CE experience for his success.

“I never planned on being published,” he said. “I wanted to leave something for my kids and grandkids and just to scratch that itch. But because of how comprehensive the courses are in preparing us not just to be good writers and tell a good story, but also to market ourselves and our idea and our product, it just happened.”

Brian is equally serious about his writing, continuing to enroll in CE courses. As someone who wanted to write since high school but found that life always got in the way, he’s excited about this new facet of his life. He praises his Harper writing instructors, the CE program and the Harper community with helping him learn the fundamentals.

“I’m a fiction writer, so I really wanted to learn how to write and be engaging,” he said. “I’m mainly taking classes with Laura Ehrke. She’s a published author, and she’s fantastic, and the cohort we have is fabulous. They’re wonderful creatives, super supportive. It’s great to learn from others as well as from the person who’s teaching the class.”

This is an excerpt from the article, “From improv to Arabic, Harper College offers Community Education classes for a variety of ages and interests,” published by Harper College News Bureau on October 1, 2025.