Ronald Syme
Ronald Syme was an English writer born in Lancashire, who later embraced his Irish heritage and storytelling roots. After a varied career that included service in the British Merchant Service and the Intelligence Corps during World War II, he transitioned to journalism before ultimately moving to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Here, at the age of thirty-seven, he began a fulfilling life as a freelance writer, marrying a local woman named Marama Amoa and having a daughter, Florence Tia te Pa Tua. Syme's writing was characterized by a strict routine, producing a range of books focused on historical figures such as Hernán Cortés and Samuel de Champlain, as well as novels with historical themes. He approached his craft with a sense of detachment, prioritizing quality of life and family over commercial success. Syme's work reflects a deep appreciation for the serene lifestyle he cultivated in the islands, as well as a whimsical acknowledgment of his Irish influence, which encouraged him to avoid the pressures of the competitive publishing world.
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Ronald Syme
Author
- Born: March 13, 1913
- Birthplace: Lancashire, England
- Died: December 19, 1992
Biography
Neville Ronald Syme lived the dream of many people living in urban, industrialized societies, stuck in routine jobs that they hate: Syme, like Paul Gaugin before him, escaped to the South Seas, married a local, Marama Amoa, and fathered a delightful daughter, Florence Tia te Pa Tua. He was thirty-seven years old when he put behind him the tedious jobs he had held, left for the Cook Islands in the South Pacific, and began his highly productive life as a freelance writer.
Although Syme was born in Lancashire, England, the son of David Godfrey and Ida Florence Kerr Syme, he considered himself more Irish than English. He has attributed much of his ability to weave stories to his early exposure to the Irish, who are inveterate storytellers. At age seventeen, he joined the British Merchant Service for a four-year stint, after which he became a reporter and foreign correspondent for five years. His wanderlust was obvious in his early choice of vocations.
In World War II, Syme served between 1940 and 1945 in the Intelligence Corps of the British Armed Forces, attaining the rank of major. After the war, he joined John Westhouse and Peter Lunn, Ltd., in London as an assistant editor, where, between 1946 and 1948, he honed his editorial skills. He served as a public-relations officer for the British Road Federation from 1948 to 1950, when he struck out for the South Pacific and a career as a freelance writer, having already published five books in the late 1940’s.
Syme settled on Cook Island where he led an idyllic life, following a strict writing routine six mornings a week, but leaving time for fishing and other pastimes in the afternoons. Syme was dispassionate about his writing: He created his books following a strict pattern of production. Once finished, he moved on and had little interest in keeping track of them. He rejoiced in the peace, serenity, and antimaterialism of the place in which he lived.
Syme produced books on a variety of historical characters: Hernán Cortés, Samuel de Champlain, Vasco da Gama, Henry Hudson, Francis Drake, Mary Kingsley, Benedict Arnold, and others. His novels are also historically oriented. Citing his Irish origins, Syme claimed to have a leprechaun on his shoulder. It whispered to him that he should not take his work too seriously and that above all else, he should not seek to assume a competitive role in the cutthroat world of publishing.
Syme pursued his dreams so that his personal life and the lives of his wife and daughter took priority over all else. He was grateful for having been able, through his writing, to sustain the sort of existence he had long envisioned.