Roy Merchant

Roy Merchant (1949 and still going strong) was born in Portland on the island of Jamaica in the West Indies. He spent his early childhood in Jamaica and came to join his parents in England in 1961.

He left school in 1965 and joined the Royal Navy, spending some time in the Far East with the submarine service. He left the Navy in 1970 to take up a career in electronics engineering. He stayed in electronics and through promotions became a manager of 6 TV rental shops in North London.

He moved into local government as a senior manager in one of the London Boroughs in 1987 and remained in Local Authority until he retired in 2014.

Roy has been writing since childhood and he published “Walking In The Shadows Of Death” (available on Amazon) in 2015. The book uses poetry and prose to describe the eternal battle between hope and hopelessness and the ultimate supremacy of hope.

In his second book, Roy Merchant gives us: "20 Things I Wish I Knew At 20". This philosophical and historical journey reflects on the 20 things Roy really would have liked to have spoken to his younger self about, to help him understand who he is, how to find peace and contentment and what he thinks love, life and death is.

From exploring how uncertainty can slip into the certainties you have about things; he takes us on a voyage into the heart of people and their inhumanity to other humans and our feared mortality.

In a beautiful story, he takes us on the journey of getting old without realising it. In an exquisite prayer, he asks that we pray for a better life on Gaia. It is a beautifully crafted and well-researched piece of work that does not preach but gives you an insight into alternative options on how life could be.

He is also doing the final editing on his third book which is about Jamaica, England and redemption, as well as editing a collection of his poetry and a collection of short stories with a view to publishing them.

Roy Loves writing.