Arthur Roy has always been curious.
A retired professional who grew up in Chemainus and now lives in Ladysmith, Roy’s curiosity and desire to share his life and learning has led him to write a book, called Curiosity’s Reward.
Following his 80th birthday, Roy decided to produce a memoir for his family.
He says he discussed his idea with friends and family and found encouragement to write a publishable book rather than just a little memoir.
He decided to focus the content mostly on the development of his nonconforming belief system, rather than just the details of his life and relationships.
“When my family celebrated my 80th birthday, I gave a short talk on some of what I had learned during this life,” Roy writes in the preface to his book. “My granddaughter Kimberley asked for a copy of my brief notes, and having received an expression of interest, I decided to expand on them with a small book. I did not want it to be of interest only to my family and friends; I decided that it should consist of material that could perhaps be useful to others; the journey of a young and naive conformist to someone with an unconventional belief system.”
Roy says his lifelong passion has been reading, fueled by his curiosity, which, from an early age, led him to search for answers to the eternal questions: “Where did we come from?”, “Why are we here?” and “Where are we going?”
In his search, he says he found that “most of our fundamental beliefs were without supporting evidence.” He has questioned everything, considering nothing to be untouched and unexamined, including religion, biology, archaeology, economics, international politics, and the nature of the reality we inhabit, according to a press release.
Curiosity’s Reward tells the story of Roy’s search and the state of his evolving belief system, “a system that provides a view of life and its meaning that is based on verifiable evidence.”
The softcover version is available at Salamander Books for $17, and signed copies are available directly from Roy. Roy can be reached at arthurjroy@shaw.ca.