Press & Reviews

1. BACK STROKES: What you Can Learn From Swimming With Dead Authors / Book, Line, & Swimmer, by Paul Gessel, published in National Post, July 26, 2013

“Author Rick Taylor swims the same waters as Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Virginia Woolf.” (READ MORE)

2. A LIFE AQUATIC: Creative Writing Prof Rick Taylor dries off long enough to write Water And Desire, a book about swimming in the wake of famous writers, by Cormac Rea, published in Carleton University Magazine, Spring 2013

“Scientists estimate that long ago, some of the earliest ancestors of Homo sapiens left the water to lurch ashore and become upright terrestrials. Some of us keep going back.” (READ MORE)

3. THE SWIMMER, by Andrew Forbes, published in The Barnstormer, Aug. 15, 2012

“But immersion, Rick has shown me, is what’s needed. Total attention to the forces beneath the surface.” (READ MORE)

4. THE OUTAOUAIS’ MODERN-DAY LORD BYRON, by Dave Brown, published in The Ottawa Citizen, Dec. 18, 2011

“There’s never any doubt about who’s coming, because nobody else swims out that far.” (READ MORE)

5. STATUS QUO - RICK TAYLOR, by Mike Levin, published in Unfolding Magazine, May 2010

20 Questions Marcel Proust thought would define who a person really is. (READ MORE)

6. SWIMMING IS HIS HEART'S DESIRE, by Susan Hickman, published in Strive, Ottawa, Jul. / Aug. 2006

“I’m a huge promoter of non-competitive soul swimming for the average swimmer, especially in open water.” (READ MORE)

7. WHO'S YOUR DADDY, by Nathaniel Riverhorse Nakadate, published in Surfer’s Journal, Apr. / May 2006

“Taylor wastes no time getting down to business with the point breaking waves of the Coral Sea and hitting the typewriter.” (READ MORE)

8. LOOKING FOR "IT" BY THE SEASHORE, by Tom Abray, published in Books in Canada, Jan./Feb. 2003

“His passion for surfing invigorates the text. The colourful descriptions of waves evoke a sense of the divine, primal fear, and sexual anticipation.” (READ MORE)

9. HOUSE INSIDE THE WAVES, by Mark Frutkin, published on Amazon.ca 2003

“A year of living on the surfer’s paradise coast of Australia (Byron Bay) inspired this memoir in praise of all things romantic: family, writers addicted to adventure, and above all, the ten-story wave.” (READ MORE)

10. ON THE BEACH - An Ottawa English Prof Ponders Bliss on Australia's Coast, by Ray Robertson, published in Toronto Star, Oct. 13, 2002

“Here, Taylor sets about doing what he’s always wanted to do: ‘sit by a window overlooking the sea and write a book about the Big Mystery.’” (READ MORE)

11. CARLETON PROF SURFS MORE THAN THE WEB, by Lauren Krugel, published in The Charlatan, Sep. 12, 2002

“Richard Taylor uses his experiences surfing in virtually every exotic locale as a backdrop to discuss his family life and tackle some of life’s most profound questions.” (READ MORE)

12. HOUSE INSIDE THE WAVES, by Susannah Heath-Eves, published in Capital Style: Books Worth Reading, 2002

“A glimpse of Taylor’s soul is made up of friends and family from the past, passages torn from literary classics, frangipani and jasmine blossoms (still fragrant), a recipe, colonial blood letting … and a Barbie Doll.” (READ MORE)

13. THE NOMADIC PATH FROM BARRHAVEN TO BYRON BAY AND BACK…, by Louise Rachlis, published in The Ottawa Citizen, Focus West, Sep. 18, 2001

“They are dreamers both, Rick and Dale Taylor, of Barrhaven, she an artist, he a writer, both creators of the world in their own image, each of them an unlikely combination of free spirit and hard work, an example of those who live life with no excuses, rather than just passing through.” (READ MORE)

14. LONELY MONOLOGUE, by T.F. Rigelhof, published in The Globe and Mail, Jul. 15, 1989

“It is nonetheless obvious that he has already achieved clarity of vision, sureness of touch and economy of expression. “ (READ MORE)