Died two days before his film, Operation: Dreamland won an Independent
Spirit Award.
The 1995 San Diego incident of the unemployed plumber who rampaged the
streets in a stolen Army tank destroying property sparked his interest
in filming documentaries.
Was visiting his family in Coronado, California when he died of cardiac
arrest while swimming in a public pool.
At the time of his death he was planning to film in Afghanistan and was
working on a project about San Francisco city politics in the
1970s.
His classmates had a reunion in July 2007. As part of the reunion, some
of his classmates started work on a memorial bench with a plaque
dedicated to Garrett.
As part of his High School graduating class's 20th reunion held in July
2007, his classmates gathered funds for a memorial bench dedicated to
Garrett.
His classmates donated more than enough funds for the memorial plaque
and bench. The extra funds have been turned over to Working Films,
which has set up a new restricted fund to support a documentary prize
in Garrett's memory/spirit.