亚洲天堂

Kelly Ricketts, a 66-year-old Southside resident, used to tell true stories from his life to his children to help them fall asleep.

In 2017, he decided to put those stories down on paper, and self-published a short story collection.

鈥淚鈥檝e lived in a lot of places and seen a lot of things, and experienced a lot in my life, and my kids always loved hearing all kinds of stories from my experiences. When they grew up and had kids of their own, I got the idea to make a book as something to pass down to my grandkids and future generations as well,鈥� Ricketts told Lakes District 亚洲天堂.

Ricketts gave out the self-published short story collection to a short list of friends and family members, until one day in late 2021, he received a call from Harbour Publishing in Vancouver, that they would like to publish and distribute the book on a large scale.

鈥淚t was really unexpected. I don鈥檛 even know how they got their hands on the book in the first place,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really cool feeling to be a published author, and that people think my life story is that interesting.鈥�

The stories in the book vary from laugh out loud funny to dark and disturbing, Ricketts told Lakes District 亚洲天堂. One of the big themes included involves his passion for combat sports, and his days as an amateur boxer. He was inducted into the B.C. Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame in January of this year.

There are also stories from his experiences as a late-night bouncer, a logger, as well as his upbringing and family struggles as a teenager. 鈥淥ne of the better stories in the book is about a fight I had with a Hells Angel,鈥� he said.

The book, titled One Inch From Disaster: True Tales from the Wilds of British Columbia, is compiled of 47 short stories.

It鈥檚 currently available for pre-order, and the official release date is set for March. 5. The book will be available for purchase at Chapters, Indigo and Amazon.