Choyce Words
Author,
poet, publisher, professor, performer, and hard-core surfer Lesley Choyce is a
man for all seasons and reasons. Recently,
in celebration of his 100th book, Saltwater Chronicles, he found the time
to take the infamous Proust questionnaire.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Living a
creative life with someone I love.
What is your
greatest fear?
Fear itself.
What is the
trait you most deplore in yourself?
Ambition.
What is the
trait you most deplore in others?
Selfishness.
Which living
person do you most admire?
Barack Obama.
What is your
greatest extravagance?
New surfboards.
What is your
current state of mind?
Bursting with
ideas to write about and not enough time.
What do you
consider the most overrated virtue?
Thriftiness.
On what
occasion do you lie?
Never.
What do you
most dislike about your appearance?
I don’t look
like a teenager anymore.
Which living
person do you most despise?
No one. A few I
dislike.
What is the
quality you most like in a man?
Honesty.
What is the
quality you most like in a woman?
Passion.
Which words
or phrases do you most overuse?
Weird. Relax.
Holy Smokes.
What or who
is the greatest love of your life?
My wife, Linda.
When and
where were you happiest?
Always in the
present and at home.
Which talent
would you most like to have?
Ability to
sing.
If you could
change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
Ability to be
more naturally sociable.
What do you
consider your greatest achievement?
Raising two
daughters.
If you were
to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
Dog or
porpoise.
Where would
you most like to live?
Right here
(Nova Scotia), right now (2020).
What is your
most treasured possession?
New blue
surfboard.
What do you
regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Absolute
loneliness.
What is your
favourite occupation?
Writer.
What is your
most marked characteristic?
Cheerful
defiance.
What do you
most value in your friends?
Loyalty,
consistency.
Who are your
favourite writers?
Pat Conroy,
Farley Mowat, Bill Bryson, Walt Whitman.
Who is your
favourite hero of fiction?
Finton Moon (in
the novel of that name by Newfoundland author Gerard Collins.)
Which
historical figure do you most identify with?
Mahatma Gandhi.
Who are your
heroes in real life?
New writers
with great gifts and perseverance.
What are
your favourite names?
Linda, Lesley,
Sunyata, Pamela, Aidan, Ailis, Genevieve, Scarlett.
What is it
that you most dislike?
Boredom.
What is your
greatest regret?
That I have but
one life to live. (Or do I?)
How would
you like to die?
Asleep when I’m
really, really old.
What is your
motto?
Push yourself
to the limit but pull back from the abyss.
