A smart Choyce for summer reading

Lesley Choyce, a well known local surfer, teacher, publisher and writer, has launched an ambitious new book called “Nova Scotia: Visions of the Future”.

The book is a compilation of more than forty essays from leaders and influential thinkers from across Nova Scotia. In the essays, the writers provide their visions of the future of the province.

“It is my hope that these ideas, some familiar, some radical, will give us a ragged map out of the wilderness of the present into the future,” writes Choyce in the book’s introduction.

Some of the more recognizable contributors in the book include Green Party leader Elizabeth May, former Nova Scotia premier Rodney MacDonald, Liberal MP Geoff Regan, radio personality Richard Zurawski and renown Canadian author Farley Mowat.

One essay, titled “The Perfection of Imperfection: A Surfer’s Reflection on Community” was written by Seaforth-area surfer Leland Maerz.

“Once, while contemplating the surf on a grassy headland near my house, it struck me that no wave, no surfer, and no surfboard could ever be the same or perfect,” writes Maerz. “I recall suddenly feeling like all my disappointments with weather, waves and my surfing were rather silly.”

Maerz uses the revelation as an analogy for living, suggesting that attempts to create the perfect life envisioned by “marketing propaganda” are futile, devoid of meaning and empty.

“When the focus becomes too much about making and possessing some definable perfection, life becomes poisoned with the same materialistic striving and stagnation we ofter mean to transcend,” writes Maerz.

Published by Pottersfield Press, “Nova Scotia: Visions of the Future” was officially launched at Stayner’s Wharf Pub and Grill last Thursday. The book retails for $19.95 and is available at local book stores and online at Chapters.ca and Amazon.ca.