Ray Vincent said he got his love of storytelling from his mother.
Growing up in a family of 10 kids without television, the now 77-year-old said his mother was a great reader, and every Saturday night, she’d relate the story of the book she was currently reading to her kids.
Transplanted to Sudbury’s Flour Mill neighbourhood from the backwoods of Northwestern Quebec as a young teen, and barely speaking a word of English, Vincent went on to attend Sheridan Tech (the school later merged with Sudbury High to become Sudbury Secondary School).
“The Sudbury Public Library on MacKenzie was my second home,” Vincent said. “I went through all the English classics, and the American writers — Steinbeck, Faulkner and so on. So (I had) this passion for reading.”
Vincent went on to attend Laurentian University, eventually gaining his certification in social work. He went to work for City of Sudbury's Welfare Department, initially as a caseworker and later moving on to supervisory and managing positions, retiring in 1999 after a 35-year career.
Following his retirement, Vincent, who’d never lost his childhood love of reading and storytelling, decided he wanted to share his own story.
He released his memoir, “The Chronicles of the Journey: And the Stories Along the Way,” in 2018 through the American publisher Adelaide Books.
“I keep on telling people there’s about 166,000 souls in Sudbury, and everybody’s a walking story if you look into it close enough,” he said. “There’s a story everywhere.”
In 2021, Vincent released his first novel “A Matter for the Heart,” which is based on Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. Late last year, he came out with his second novel, entitled “Mr. Anderson.” Both of these books were also released through Adelaide Books.
The story is about a good man with an impeccable work ethic and sterling integrity about to come face to face with a family tragedy as he goes through his last week of work leading to retirement. The story opens on Monday and closes on Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have two married children: Mary Beth, the dentist who lives in Montreal, and Michael, the stock broker from Toronto — the “black sheep” of the family. Michael's drug problems not only affect his marriage and his career, but the peace and tranquility of Mr. and Mrs. Anderson in a pernicious way.
The week leading to Mr. Anderson's retirement, Michael gets fired. The day of Mr. Anderson's retirement party (Saturday), tragedy strikes. Even a good man (the story tells us) is powerless to control what the vagaries of life may throw his way.
Vincent said he got the idea for the book through talking to a retiring acquaintance years ago, a successful businessman, who told him he wished he’d put more emphasis on his personal life, because without work, his life felt empty.
“So that's where the germ of the story started,” he said. “It kind of percolates in your mind, and I didn't do anything with it for four years. And then last winter, about 12 months ago, I sat down and put a little sketch of something that would be akin to what my friend went through.”
He said the book is about “everyday life” and the stress and tragedies that families deal with. “It’s a human story,” he said. “It’s not Hollywood-ish. There’s no living happily ever. It’s reality. It’s the truth of who we are and what we do and why we do what we do.”
If you’d like to purchase a copy of “Mr. Anderson” or any of Vincent’s books, you can do so through online sellers such as Amazon.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.
