A retired Vernon doctor’s life story will be featured at the world’s largest trade fair for books.
Choice and Chance is the memoir of Dr. Nicholas Rety, and it will be among the exhibits at the 2023 Frankfurt Book Fair Oct. 18-22 in Frankfurt, Germany.
“If the book takes off (at Frankfurt), so much the better,” said Rety, a former urologist, now almost 93, and still living in Vernon. “I hope it gathers some attention there.”
The Frankfurt Book Fair is an annual fair that was founded in 1454 and is the world’s largest trade fair for books. The book fair offers various subjects: religion, youth and children’s books, novels, poetry, and non-fiction such as memoirs and biographies.
Memoirs offer a new perspective of an individual who has gone through a challenging experience.
Choice and Chance is Rety’s inspiring story of his lifelong journey from being born in Hungary to settling in Vernon,
In 1944-45, Rety witnessed the siege of Budapest by the Russian Army and the aftermath at close quarters. In 1947, he moved to England and worked as a delivery truck driver for a wine merchant, and at a Fleet Street advertising agency while attending night school. His efforts earned him a university scholarship.
After his medical studies, he served as a Regimental Medical Officer in the Canadian Army before becoming a urological surgeon in Vernon, where he practised for 31 years until his retirement in 1999.
The memoir, said Rety, was originally published nine years ago under the title No Return Ticket, for which he ended up doing a book signing at Coles, the book store in the Village Green centre. Since then, he has revised his book, omitting some chapters and adding some new ones.
Rety’s book will be exhibited in Frankfurt by ReadersMagnet, a self-publishing and marketing firm, who printed Rety’s original book.
“Our experiences in life are like snow falling to the ground,” he said. “It seeps into the ground, comes out as water and forms brooks and rivers. My life has been varied; I did many things, and I went through life with open eyes.”
Rety was an avid skier and tennis player in private life and played excusable golf. At age 56, he took up flying, which he enjoyed for 19 years. He enjoys reading, writing, poetry, singing, good friends, lively conversation, travel, photography, and life. He abhors pomposity.
You can obtain a copy of Choice and Chance on Amazon and ReadersMagnet Bookstore.
READ MORE: Valley Voices features award-winning Okanagan authors