The Book of Ray is a three-volume memoir of one man's journey through life. This first volume covers birth through military service in Vietnam.
Says the author, "I can't remember a time when I wasn't lured by the beckoning call to adventure: scrambling over mounds of rocks, climbing alongside waterfalls, descending into gloomy caves, and scaling steep mountains. Nothing has ever seemed too forbidden, too daunting, or too formidable to this intrepid adventurer.
There's an old saying, "You can't tell a book by its cover." If this ever applied to anyone, it applies to the jovial-looking fellow who wrote this book. Over the years, I've come to know him better than I ever imagined. And yet it seems I hardly knew him at all. Understanding and respecting the kind of person I was before is part of the challenge. Learning to honor and love the man I am today is the rest of the story.
About the Author: R. J. McBride grew up in Portland, Oregon, attending Shattuck Grade School and Lincoln High School. He was the son of a working mother in the 1940s, with an unusual amount of freedom to roam his urban and suburban world. A country boy at heart in spite of his city upbringing, he currently lives with his wife, Robin, and small senior rescue dog, Gaby, in rural Salem, Oregon.
Says McBride, "I believe every single life has meaning and purpose-living proof that we exist because God loves us just for who we are. The most important thing is to do the best we can with what we have and try to do it from a place of love, If what I choose to do cannot give back to life in a meaningful and uplifting way, then as far as I'm concerned, it serves no lasting purpose. Love is the key to all things worthwhile-past, present, and future. It is on this premise that The Book of Ray has been written."
