When Preston Tinsley interviewed for the job as school librarian at Tuscola High School more than 40 years ago, he did it without shoes.

His wife did bring him nice clothes to change into for the interview, but she’d forgotten his dress shoes. And so he went without. Luckily, the school’s principal at the time, Charles Starnes, didn’t seem to mind after Tinsley explained the situation.

“I liked him immediately,” Tinsley said. “We walked through the halls of Tuscola, and I thought I liked this place, and I never stopped liking it.”

Such memories of his 10 years at Tuscola make up some of the best in his life, Tinsley said, and he would love the chance to relive them with his former co-workers. That desire led him to call up Starnes, who was the school’s principal for 23 years, and pitch the ...