For Ray Robertson, writing is more than a career. Beyond a passion and a proclivity, it’s a way of making sense of a world that can often seem pretty senseless. In his latest novel, I Was There the Night He Died, protagonist Sam Samson — also a novelist — contemplates writing about his wife’s recent car crash, but he resists, knowing that helping himself process her death would place it more distantly in the past, and he’s not ready to put her behind him.
So, he turns to music, writing instead about the unsung heroes of rock history — a book Robertson himself is actually writing in real life.
“Music seems to be, in one form or another, something that shows up in most of my books,” Robertson says. “I think a lot of writers are wannabe, failed musicians,” he admits with a laugh. “You know, if you can’t play or sing, you write. Music is art in its purest form. I choose to use words, but music continues to inspire me, it’s a really big part of my life.”
Aside from vocation and taste in music, Robertson and Samson also share a history: both were born and raised in Chatham, Ont., both left for Toronto at their earliest opportunity.
Robertson likens writing about his hometown to James Joyce’s accounts of Dublin in the early 20th century.
“It’s not like I want to write about Chatham,” he jokes. “I have no choice, I write about what compels me. And the themes I wanted to explore — of mortality, aging and addiction — found expression in this character going back there.”
After completing his BA in philosophy at U of T in the late ’80s, Robertson attended Southwest Texas State University, adding an MFA in creative writing to his credentials. He and his wife returned to Toronto in 1997, on the eve of the publication of his first novel, and have been living in the eclectic Roncesvalles neighbourhood since.
“Toronto is very fascinating when you come from a small, homogenous town. It’s a wonderful place for a novelist,” Robertson says, going on to describe the local bars, bookstores and record shops he enjoys strolling into as he navigates the city by foot. “I love being able to walk everywhere. You really understand a place better and you’re always running into people.”
For a writer so accomplished and prolific — I Was There the Night He Died is his seventh novel — Robertson is remarkably humble.
“Neither of my parents went to high school. They started working at 13,” says Robertson. “I get to sit on my ass and make up stories all day. I’m very fortunate.”
I Was There the Night He Died comes out March 24 and will be launched at the Garrison (1197 Dundas St. W.) on March 26 at 7:30 p.m.
