Northern Ont. author believes in the value of kindness

Former Sault Ste. Marie city council member turned author, Peter Vaudry, joins Tony Ryma to talk about the release of his book, ‘Kindness in Sault Ste. Marie'.

A long-time northern resident genuinely believes that ‘kindness is Sault Ste. Marie.’

This year, as Peter Vaudry of the Sault celebrated his 81st birthday, he decided to pen a book about the city he has grown up in and where he still makes his home.

“I was becoming concerned about the growing frequency of public and online display of rudeness and unkindness,” Vaudry said.

“I just wanted to be proactive about protecting our community from that corrosive potential of that behaviour.”

He used the word ‘kind’ in his book as a trait -- as in she is a kind spirit.

“Acting with kindness is something Saultites have always done,” said Vaudry.

“Kindness is the representation of the totality of the kindness abounding in the community, past and present.”

He has been a long-time volunteer in the community and said he believes that kindness is the very spirit and soul of the city.

“The book goes back all the way to when I was a boy growing up in the Bayview neighbourhood of the city,” Vaudry said.

“My mother was a major influence on who I am today. It highlights the generosity of spirit.”

By ‘generosity of spirit,’ Vaudry said his mother believed in giving without any expectations of any kind.

“My mother believed that you should not expect any kind of return or compensation,” he said.

“There is no condemnation, no criticism, there is no advice giving. Kindness is the only intent.”

Vaudry said he recognized that at the age of 10 and realized that in others in the Sault all these years after. He said it is there and something the community should celebrate.

Proceeds from Vaudry’s book, which launched on Monday, will be going to St. Vincent Place. He said he picked the non-profit because of the way he grew up.

“We had a lot of help -- and we needed help,” he said.

“St. Vincent Place is an example of one of the kindnesses in Sault Ste. Marie. They are there to help people who have a need and they try to meet that need.”

On the cover of his book is a picture of ‘Spirits Rising’ on the city’s waterfront. He said it was a coming together of a community and the union to save Algoma Steel at the time. He said that the picture represents the spirit of the city that he calls home.