taylorswave.com
Select Publications
1. COMING FULL CIRCLE, published in the book Courage, Curiosity, Teapots and Snakes: Stories of Teaching at Carleton University, 2019
“Forty-five years ago, I arrived at Carleton a hopeful, dreaming 19-year-old student, fresh from a euphoric summer spent surfing in Hawaii.” (READ MORE)
2. THE ALLURE OF OPEN WATER, Explore Magazine, Summer, 2014
“A Master swimmer takes to lakes, rivers and open ocean with writers and others – sometimes many, many others.” (READ MORE)
3. IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD THE PRICE OF ENTRY, TRY THE BEACH, The Globe and Mail, April 8, 2014
“At the beach, when I mentioned to the local about my planned three-kilometre swim up the coast to the next hotel, his eyes went bug-eyed. “ "Watch out for sharks,” was his advice.” (READ MORE)
4. SWIMMING WITH ALBERT AND THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING, Feathertale Review #12, 2013
An Aquatic Jaunt Inspired by a Loveable Genius (READ MORE)
5. GOOD TO THE LAST DROP PARTS 1 & 2: Epic Federation of Lakes Swim 2011, Echoes of the Lakes, 2011 & 2012
“After renting on Lac Brassard for five years, my wife Dale and I bought our own place we named Monet Bay, and I decided to swim all 30 Federation lakes and write about my aquatic adventures.” (READ MORE)
6. WRITING IS A MUG’S GAME: MY LIFE AS A NICK NOLTE LOOK-ALIKE, Feathertale Review #8, 2011
“Since the seventies, whether in Hollywood or Hawaii, Australia or Europe, at home or anywhere else, I’d been hearing about how much I look
like Nick Nolte.” (READ MORE)
7. SWIMMING, SINGING, REMEMBERING NORWAY BAY – 1960s – 1970s, Norway Bay and Beyond, July 2010
“I learned to swim at Norway Bay a few years before the Beatles changed the world.” (READ MORE)
8. BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE: A Pit Bull Takes On the Grand Seducer, Pepé Le Pew, Feathertale Review #5, 2010
"After my oldest daughter Sky decided to return to college again, she moved back home with her strawberry blond, adorably ugly pit bull pup in heat, Mars." (READ MORE)
9. WHAT'S HARDER THAN SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA? Searching for Spalding Gray's perfect moment, Feathertale Review #4, 2009
“His most celebrated book, and film, Swimming To Cambodia, had an early cover with Spalding’s head just above water, his bulging eyes inviting the viewer to share his crazy roller coaster quest for the perfect moment.” (READ MORE)
10. SWIMMING WITH MADAME BUTTERFLY, The Citizen’s Weekly, August 7, 2009
“Richard Taylor joins marathoner Vicki Keith for a (relatively) short plunge in Lake Ontario.” (READ MORE)
11. DARK AND STORMY WATERS: Into the Drink With Lord Byron, Again, The Feathertale Review #3, 2008
“As I looked out over the railing I knew who’d be more interesting to swim with between Byron and Franklin, but I was more concerned by the fact that the Thames rises and falls with a twenty-four-foot tide, insanely flowing at one-to-three knots.” (READ MORE)
12. MY DINNER WITH TIFF, The Feathertale Review #2, 2007 (also published in The Citizen’s Weekly, Dec. 23, 2007
How an aspiring writer cornered Timothy Findley for an impromptu reading. (READ MORE)
13. A DIP IN HEMINGWAY’S POOL, The Citizen’s Weekly, Fall 2007 & The Ottawa Citizen's Weekly Arts & Books, Dec. 23, 2007
“Travelling on a murderously lean budget, I planned to fly to Key West for an illicit swim in Hemingway's swimming pool.” (READ MORE)
14. DIFFERENT STROKES, The Citizen’s Weekly Book Pages, Nov. 14, 2004
“An open-water fanatic finds a solution to that bane of long-distance swimming - loneliness. Just take the plunge with a friend.” (READ MORE)
15. PURE MADNESS, SURE GENIUS, The Citizen’s Weekly Fall Reading, Sept. 19, 2004
“This summer, I discovered Hollingshead’s remote retreat and found the author at work in a cramped but charming screened in porch. It overlooked the still waters of a lake inhabited by just one other cabin.” (READ MORE)
16. THE SEDUCTIVE WORLD OF JOHN FOWLES: A Life in Two Worlds, The Citizen’s Weekly Reading, July 25, 2004
“On a search for a storyteller, a literary tourist ends up lost in a biography. (READ MORE)
17. WHEN IN ROAM... Hiking Into The Heart Of English Literature, The Citizen’s Weekly, June 12, 2004
“Because England's southwest has been called the birthplace of English Literature, this trek is becoming a literary and historical journey of many unusual surprises.” (READ MORE)
18. IT’S A DOG’S LIFE, Nepean This Week, Mar. 12, 2004
“Now at 51 years of age, I've made the shocking discovery that I've become one of those old farts driving around alone in the family vehicle with his dog.” (READ MORE)
19. EXCERPT FROM HOUSE INSIDE THE WAVES, The Surfer’s Path, Nov. 2003
“In the predawn blackness of our bedroom I hear thunderous waves churn into the beach. Then I detect another faint whisper. "Reef." Finally there's a chorus of high-pitched voices. "Reeeeef! Come out and play!" (READ MORE)
20. WATER BOY: Open-water Swimming Unlocks a Magical World, The Citizen’s Weekly, Sept. 21, 2003
“Like a lot of people, I'm addicted to water. Swimming offers the cheapest and most effective relief from stress, depression and restlessness.” (READ MORE)
21. FAREWELL TO A FAITHFUL FRIEND, The Citizen’s Weekly, Apr. 20, 2003
“The syringe emptied into her vein. Her breathing stopped. She was gone.” (READ MORE)
22. BEYOND WANDERLUST, The Citizen’s Weekly Reading, Dec. 29 2002
“Diane Stuemer and Richard Taylor swap e-mails and share adventures from behind their tales.” (READ MORE)
23. HOW TO BECOME A WRITER: Read. Write. Push, The Citizen’s Weekly Reading, Sept. 29, 2002
“Once you become a passionate reader, a listener, a taster and thinker, writing may become a natural outlet.” (READ MORE)
24. WHEN THE BEST MINDS WANDER: Wanderlust: Real Life Tales of Adventure and Romance, Edited by Don George, Forward by Pico Iyer. Reviewed by Richard Taylor, Ottawa Citizen, Feb. 4, 2001
“Their accounts range from the delightful, sensual evocation of place to the scary life-and-death of real adventure.” (READ MORE)
25. DEATH OF A FILMMAKER, The Citizen’s Weekly Books, Jan. 28, 2001
“Frank Cole fixated on death and the desert but in the end, the Sahara was not about to grant him immortality. (READ MORE)
26. THE HIDDEN CONNECTIONS AMONG THINGS, The Citizen’s Weekly, Apr. 2000
“But you know, if you don't let yourself give in to a little poetry now and again, there just might be a real hole in your life.” (READ MORE)
27. LAURENCE FOUND A LIFETIME IN LETTERS: A Very Large Soul: Selected Letters From Margaret Laurence to Canadian Writers, Edited by J.A. Wainwright
Reviewed by Richard Taylor, Ottawa Citizen, June 11, 1995
“You get the feeling that Laurence’s only contact with other writers was through letters.” (READ MORE)
28. OF CHILDREN, WOMEN AND MEN: Confessions of a Happy Househusband, Ottawa Woman, Mar. 1987
“Staying home with daughter Sky gives Richard Taylor and enviable father-daughter closeness.” (READ MORE)