Ray Wiseman
Ray Wiseman is the co-author of the short story, "Of Cobras, Culture, and Change," on page 220 of Hot Apple Cider. The story is actually an excerpt from the novel When Cobras Laugh, which is partially based on Ray's experiences as a missionary in South Africa.
Ray Wiseman's early memory—being pushed up a rope ladder and over the side of a tramp steamer at age two—set the tone for his life. He has spent much time traveling, and most of his life looking from the hilltop of one adventure to the beginning of the next. Born in England, Ray has lived in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and South Africa. He has traveled in Africa and Asia.
Ray counts writing as his fourth career. He began his working life as an electronics technician, then returned to school to study for the Christian ministry. He spent time in the pastorate and overseas with a missionary society. He returned to electronics, working as a video systems engineer. In 1993, he took early retirement to pursue a career as a writer and speaker and to dedicate more time to the work of Partners International.
Ray graduated from Radio College of Canada (now RCC College of Technology) in 1952. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Waterloo and a Bachelor of General and Biblical Studies from Briercrest Bible College. He has also studied at the Toronto Institute of Linguistics and The International Institute of Christian Communications (Daystar University College) in Nairobi.
Ray was a founding board member of the The Word Guild. For many years, he was a member of the Canadian Authors Association.
His writing career includes a dozen years writing, editing, and publishing technical materials and manuals for a major corporation, and 19 years writing over 1000 magazine and newspaper columns and features and eight books: a collection of fictionalized columns about an elderly woman, Aunt Harri Walks the Line, and other adventures starring the feisty oldster and her friends; Ray's personal story of growing up under difficult circumstances, A Difficult Passage, from prairie poverty to heights beyond; three biographies published by Partners International: I Cannot Dream Less: Chris Marantika's extraordinary journey from a remote island to the heart of his nation; Disciples of Joy: Anand Chaudhari's spiritual journey from Brahmin priest to minister of Christ (a Canadian bestseller), and A Bridge to the Mountain: The life and ministry of Paul Chang. Ray's latest three books, all of which are still in print, include the award-winning Bible study Exploring God s Route 66, co-authored by Ray's wife Anna, who has edited all of his writing over the years; a small handbook for writers, Write! Better; and the novel, When Cobras Laugh, co-written with Dr. Don Ranney and published by OakTara Publishing in 2008.
Ray spends his spare time promoting his books and critiquing manuscripts for beginning authors.
Hot Apple Cider came together in a rather unusual way. What made you want to have your work in it?
I found it hard to resist joining with 29 other Canadian authors in what promised to be an effective way of promoting Canadian writers who are Christian. It thrills me to see how successfully it has done just that. I also hoped it would showcase my novel When Cobras Laugh (written with co-author Don Ranney), then about to come off the press.
Hot Apple Cider is 100% Canadian. Canadian authors, publisher, printer—everything. Is that important to you?
Yes. It not only promotes Canadian authors, but it demonstrates what Canadians can do in the publishing field.
In her foreword for Hot Apple Cider, Janette Oke mentions that writers are often asked, “Why do you write?” How do you respond to that question?
I see writing as an "extending" media—it extends my voice and my sphere of influence. I write because I feel I have something to say, to contribute to the church and society. I could choose to speak to people one at a time, but in a newspaper column, I communicate with thousands each week. I believe our society needs to hear opinions rooted in a Christian worldview.
You often say you’ve had four careers, although in some ways writing has been part of them all. However, you actually had major problems in school, and I believe you struggled with dyslexia. Can you tell us a little about how you overcame your difficulties with reading and writing to go on to become, not merely a columnist and author, but also the 2009 winner of the Leslie K. Tarr Award for your contribution to writing in Canada?
My oldest son claims I have had eight careers! Yes, four or eight, all have had something to do with communicating, if not writing specifically.
I failed grade two because I could not copy things from the blackboard without serious errors. It became a lesser problem with time, and I actually became a good student. However, I dropped out after grade nine, to bring in money when the family needed it.
I did return to school and eventually earned two college diplomas and two undergraduate degrees, much of it by distance education (I never did earn a high-school diploma).
The dyslexia? I still have problems with numbers. And don't suddenly ask me to turn left or right; it might take a few flustered seconds before I turn the right, or the wrong, way.
I believe a complex number of reasons kept me going. It began with a desire to get training to improve my job prospects. Then a call to ministry propelled me to Bible college. While in South Africa I found that the African pastor I worked with had a much higher level of education than I did, so upon returning to Canada, I enrolled in university courses to earn a BA. I also realized the a university degree would enhance my new career. And yes, I did have that feeling: I'll show the world I can do it!
How did you feel when you found out you were getting the Tarr Award in June 2009—was it the fulfillment of your writing? The seal of approval? Acknowledgement by your peers? Or the cherry on top that was nice but not really necessary?
All of the above! I felt like I had won an Olympic gold, an Order of Canada, or an honorary doctorate from a prestigious university.
Your piece in Hot Apple Cider is actually a short adaptation from the novel, When Cobras Laugh, which you co-wrote with Don Ranney. Why did you decide to write a novel—something you’d never done before—and why did you decide to interweave two quite different stories in two different countries into one book?
I had often thought about writing about our time in South Africa. Certainly it was the worst of times and the best of times. However, telling the "worst" experiences would have injured people and organizations. I didn't want to do that, even though I felt it important to write the story as a warning to others preparing to go to the mission field. The best answer seemed to be to tell the story as a novel.
In reality, authors can communicate more truth in novels than in non-fiction. When Don and I met and discovered we had similar experiences at essentially the same time in different parts of the world, we joined forces. In fact Don had already started writing his India misadventures. By combining both stories in one book, we could show that racism and deception can occur among mission personnel in various parts of the world.
When you say you told the story as a novel, how much of it was made up of whole cloth and how much of is was based on actual experiences you or Don or other missionaries had had?
Every bit of it drew on the actual experiences of missionaries—the major portion happened to Anna and me. Much of the dialogue I wrote from memory.
The sexual escapade that brought about the fall of Andrew, the key character in the African section, happened to a fellow missionary. However, I had to make up most of those details because I never discussed it with him—the basic information came indirectly from the woman involved.
You and your wife Anna were missionaries to South Africa, and you are represented in the book as Andrew and Nancy Heath. Did writing about your experiences, even years later, help you in any way?
By the time I wrote our story, we had long since dealt with the scars that had formed. We mostly remember and often long for the positive elements: living in a different culture; learning other languages; watching our sons grow in circumstances so different than those of Canada; gaining some of the best friends of our lives from among African society.
Had I written of our misadventures earlier, it might have come from a baser motivation—a desire to straighten out the record, to get even. We said very little when we came home—at that time pastors and mission's committees did not want to hear anything negative. We've had people who knew us back then read the book and say, "Now we understand."
Possibly, I needed to wait until I found success in another field—I never dreamed that one day I would join the corporate division of a large communications company and travel North America as an "expert" and consultant. Maybe, only after I had improved my education and worked at that level did I finally feel that I could speak with authority, that people would listen to me. After all, before, I had been nothing but a dropout, an electronics technician, and a failed missionary.
In addition to When Cobras Laugh, you’ve written three biographies of church leaders in other countries, a collection of columns about an elderly woman, an autobiography of your early life, a Bible study guide on the books of the Bible, and a small handbook for writers. Which of these books are still in print, and which of them do you look back on with the most satisfaction?
The three books still in print include the Bible study written with my wife, Exploring God's Route 66; my writing handbook, Write! Better; and the novel written with Don Ranney, When Cobras Laugh. I still have limited copies of the others. I'm not sure which one gives me the most satisfaction—possibly my best known book, Disciples of Joy, although all of the others hold a special place in my heart and memory.
You’ve also written many columns for newspapers in the Guelph area. Are you still writing a weekly column? Was writing a weekly column for all those years a labour of love or a grit-your-teeth-and-get-it-done item on the agenda?
I have experienced times when it became a burden depending on what other adventures the Lord had sent along. However, most of the time I enjoy doing it.
I’m assuming you get feedback from a lot of people because of the nature of your books, and feedback is great for the author – you know someone is actually reading your words! But I’m wondering if you’ve learned anything from your readers that you could share with us?
My picture appears in the paper every week, so everybody in my local area knows me. One day I stood in line listening to a comical conversation between a female customer and the proprietor of a fruit stand. The lady fired out the punch line, then turning to leave, looked at me and said, "I suppose that will appear in your next column."
I had never seen the lady before—and I've never seen her since.
I value all of the feedback I have received—both positive and negative. The greatest learning experiences came from the time researching and interviewing overseas for the biographies.
Aside from your own pieces, is there a particular piece or thought in Hot Apple Cider that stood out for you?
I must mention Brian Austin's poetry. I rarely read poetry. I often do not like or 'get' poetry. I didn't pay much attention to Brian's work in Hot Apple Cider until the day he attended a coffee hour at my church and read poetry. Wow! Hearing him read so powerfully, drove me back to Hot Apple Cider. A suggestion to folks reading this: invite a Hot Apple Cider writer to an event at your church to speak or do a reading.
A lot of people want to share their stories in order to help others. What advice do you have for someone who wants to write but doesn’t know how to begin?
Within a year or so of birth, most of us just started talking. No one told us how. We listened, we imitated, we reacted to feedback…. You can begin writing the same way: read—especially the sort of thing you would like to write; imitate the style of writing that appeals to you; get it out to your family and friends and then to editors; hone it as you get feedback. I wrote my first newspaper columns in a style similar to Gregory Clark—I had begun reading him as a child. I developed from there. Now, I write like Ray Wiseman.
Also, join a writing group or organization like The Word Guild so you can get help from fellow writers.
Are you working on something else now? If so, please give us a few details.
Most of my time these days goes into critiquing the work of other writers. Four other people assist me, each one with specialized knowledge: a proofreader; a university staffer/lecturer; a former journalism professor and editor; and a youth pastor. Beyond that, we have experts in medicine, aviation, and music ready to assist when called on. We look on critiquing as a ministry, not simply income, because we all have other sources of livelihood.
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