Rebel with a Cause

by Ray Avery

The inspiring story of a true NZ hero who overcame childhood neglect to become a successful scientist and businessman, and who has saved millions of lives in the third world.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Autobiography, Biography, Book Club

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Denyse Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting. I had not heard of Ray Avery before but he is a larger than life man who has achieved amazing things.
Great to see he calls himself a New Zealander. Well worth a read.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually read biographies and I didn't really have much idea of who Ray Avery was but my brother recommended this book to me. Turns out he was onto a good thing. The book is incredibly inspiring as well as being a humorous, engaging read that was difficult to put down.

It is a pretty grim read in places, particularly in its descriptions of his early life experiences which include abuse, poverty, life in various institutions and 8 months living under a bridge at the age of 13. He overcomes this to become a successful businessman, entrepreneur, research chemist and philanthropist.

One of the achievements that Ray Avery is most known for is his work with the Fred Hollows Foundation setting up hi tech intra-ocular lens factories in Eritrea and Nepal. In the case of Eritrea this involved building a factory and a trained workforce in a country that was dysfunctional and all but destroyed after 30 years of war with Ethiopia. These factories effectively crashed the price of cataract treatment and made it affordable for millions of people in the developing world. Avery then went on to develop a range of technologies (incubators, baby food etc) aimed at reducing infant mortality. These stories by themselves are interesting, but Avery doesn't take himself too seriously and the book is also interspersed with some great yarns that he has collected along the way.

The book finishes with an interesting chapter highlighting some of the poor practices of aid agencies where they have ended up killing the people they are supposed to be saving.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d never heard of Ray Avery until I’d seen his book reviewed in the Listener. Avery is a successful scientist and businessman who invented low-cost lenses for cataract sufferers, incubators for babies, as well as other scientific solutions for factories in Third World countries. He spent some time helping to set up the infrastructure to manufacture interocular lenses in North Africa for the Fred Hollows Foundation

Rebel with a Cause describes Avery’s childhood growing up in England, neglected, abused, fostered out to strangers and even living under a bridge. His story is truly inspiring – to overcome such an appalling childhood and then turn out to be so successful as a businessman. An absorbing read, Rebel with a Cause is deeply moving and at times, very funny.

[Malvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An inspiring autobiography of a highly successful scientist and entrepreneur with achievements targeted at helping developing countries. From a neglected English boy housed in a humble council estate to a recipient of Kiwibank's New Zealander of Year Award 2010, Ray is fearless, intelligent and somewhat promiscuous but it is his sheer determination, absolute appreciation for quality and appetide to deliver world class solutions that sets him apart from the rest. An engaging read, funny at times and naturally with a few tragic moments, it leaves one with admiration as Ray is highly critical of the global aid organisations and is genuinely concerned with the welfare of the less fortunate.

[Graeme · Rating 5 out of 5]

The true story of an outstanding man.

[G Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me think about how you should always be self driven and work hard to achieve your goals. The main character was not supported as a child and decided to take his life into his own hands. This made me realise that we don’t fully understand how privileged we were to have people support and help us and that we should always be grateful for what we have. Help at a young age is sometimes overlooked and seen as something that is expected and not as something that is truly giving. In the novel Rebel with a Cause, an autobiography by Ray Avery, we learn that he didn't get an easy start to life. “I had a choice about attending school. I could still have lived under the bridge and gone to lessons everyday, but I didn't think I would learn much that I needed to know. Instead, as Noel Coward once said: “At the age of fourteen I left school and commenced my education.” Not only did he show such resilience and strength after surviving such a rough childhood, but he took his future into his own hands. He sought out to achieve goals that many would see as impossible and did it solely by himself because no one gave him a hand up in life. As the author, his message shows us that you should never take the easy road in life. The experience and resilience you build up far outweighs the time you may have lost. His work in many countries was never easy but he chose to not give up and to complete his goals to the highest standards. “Everything that had befallen me, it seemed, was forced in that one moment. Its purpose had been to steel me for this, and for the first time in my life everything made sense”. His history gave him the knowledge, ingenuity and compassion to help those who, similarly to him, were not given an easy start to life. He knew how to communicate with these people through shared experiences and when he was tasked with something that seemed impossible, he was able to inspire people to make a difference and truly help others. The things that he managed to do in his life show that you should always make the most of the cards you are dealt in life. Although they may seem to let you down at first, they may be key to helping you succeed in the future. This for Ray Avery was what led him to becoming who he is today. This is why instead of giving people fish, he taught them how to fish. Knowledge will always be far more valuable than money to people who are trying to survive day to day. Teach them how to help other people, inspire them to overcome near impossible challenges and they will make a difference that they never thought possible.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like others, I found this book rather engaging. As a 'summer reading' pickup book from the local OpShop, I thought I'd give it a quick glance before stashing it away to take up to the Caravan over Christmas. I ended up reading it cover to cover that same afternoon.

I quite like Ray and his approach to life, and calling out the BS that surrounds us all. I felt this would be a good way to learn a little more about the guy who's been popping up in my LinkedIn feed for much of the last several years.

An inspiring book with moments of great humor (and heartache), I'd recommend this as a easy read and a great biography of one of New Zealand's more interesting people who have done a great deal with their lives.

[Michaela Klegseth · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all I love autobiography and love learning about people. This one is quite interesting because i have never heard of him and this gave me a opportunity to. It became addicting and so good that it was difficult to put down because it pulls you in.In the beginning of his life he went through so much struggle and he ended up living under a bridge. He went through all those struggles and ended up being a very successful man and it is inspiring. Overcoming struggles is very inspiring to readers. He created scientific solutions for factories and helped so many people. This book was moving a funny.The themes consists of perseverance and overcoming struggles.

[Nevyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ray Avery is problematic.

While the book is an inspiring tale from his perspective, more details have emerged in NZ media about the scale of Ray Avery's contributions to the devices he's helped create and amazingly problematic behavior around the building of the "lifepods" including misrepresenting where they are with it (testing and deployments), how far away they are from deploying them, and using (and abusing) volunteer expertise.

It's a worthwhile read but everything you read has to be taken with a grain of salt.

[Norm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given as a present from a family member, not usually the sort of thing I read. However it was surprisingly entertaining. Fascinating if grim account of his institutional British childhood. Impressive tale of pulling himself up by his bootstraps to achieve rather extraordinary things. Told in a humorous and easy to read manner. Not a piece of heavyweight literature but nonetheless an enjoyable and highly illuminating read, would recommend.

[Ping · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ray Avery had a rough childhood spending time in orphanages and foster homes and living under a bridge when he was a teenager. An inspiring read about his life journey. His can-do attitude has helped him to achieve excellence. He was the New Zealander of the year in 2010.

[Marty Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Interesting journey and enjoyed the real life thorough application of a 'good' scientific approach.

[Alexandra Frankpitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and fascinating insight into the life of a remarkable man. He came across sounding a bit dogmatic for my tastes especially towards the end. Very simple prose style and a few errors.

[Keira · Rating 4 out of 5]

he invented the lenses that fix cataract blindness which mr beast used in the 1000 blind ppl see for the first time video. historical moment.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book club read. Well-written, informative and inspirational. Incredible life story of an extraordinary man.

[Dini Paranagama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, thoroughly enjoyed it - what an absolute life! Written with such humour and wit that sometimes you had to remind yourself how he'd gotten to each point. Really good book!

[Claudia Jeffs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting life, varied and from a difficult start in life he certainly made the most of opportunities and succeeded in changing his life and that of people less fortunate.

[Kiwiflora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every now and again amazing people of unbelievable vision, talent and self-belief come along and change things about the world we live in. Or other people's worlds. Ray Avery is one such person. Currently the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year, and the recent recipient of this year's Peter Blake Award for Leadership, Ray Avery is essentially a humanitarian. He has harnessed his scientific skills, his business experience, his inventor's brain, and his brilliant entrepreneurship together to change the lives of the people in Third World countries, initially Eritrea and Nepal, and then to other countries as well. His mantra is that 'one man can change the world', and he has certainly done that with his determination, his vision and sheer power of personality.

What perhaps makes his story even more fascinating and inspiring is that he had a most wretched childhood. Born just after the war in England, abandoned and abused by his parents, his early years were spent either with his mother, in foster homes, or running away and living on the streets. Consequently he developed excellent survival and can-do skills, which he put to such good use in his adult life. Against all the odds, and through sheer good luck he found himself under the tutelage of the school gardener who opened him up to the world of science. And from that point on there was no stopping Ray Avery.

Perhaps the most fortuitous thing to happen to him was meeting Fred Hollows, and this put him on the path to the incredible work he has done in Eritrea and Nepal bringing cheap and safe cataract surgery to millions of people. Based on his observations working and living in these countries he has gone onto to invent a number of other low cost, effective and innovative products to benefit the populations of these poverty-stricken countries.

Ray Avery is a fascinating and very humbling man, who has a fascinating story to tell. Reading his story may well make you think just a little bit differently about the footprint we leave on the world, and how little effort it takes to do a lot of good things, not necessarily in the third world, which is probably just a bit inaccessible for the majority of us, but in our own communities. If that happens, then we too have taken on some of Ray's spirit.

[Michael Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the story about the guy who was incarcerated in an Ostrich quarantine for six months, to look after them. His wife used to come and wave through the glass. Unfortunately the air had to be recirculated so as not to introduce contaminants into the Auckland environment. Nobody had realized that ostriches produce quite a lot of ammonia. He got red eyes, the birds got red eyes, then the birds started dying. He dragged their carcasses into the cool room until it was full, after that he had to chop them up with a chainsaw and stuff the bits into the freezer. By the time the six months was up the ostrich industry had crashed, loads of start-ups lost their shirts, and those ostriches which did survive, nobody wanted to take charge of them anyway.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning, readable and inspiring autobiography. A man from humble beginnings - living under a bridge in Finsbury Park, no less - Avery's thirst for knowledge and invention transformed his life and many thousands of others.

With a mix of entrepreneurial spirit, damn-the-torpedoes attitude and desire to help those in most dire need, Avery's journey has never been boring. Highly recommended.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational, I read book this after listening to Sir Ray speak at a New Zealand Coastguard AGM at Taupo.
The last chapters are worth reading, which everybody who donates to any sort of charity needs to keep in mind while trying to help.
Ray is a "doer", not a "going to do" person, we need more like him.

[Sue Webber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, an amazing guy who is making a real difference. He's certainly made me think again about some of these so called 'aid' agencies. Many laugh out loud moments which are a relief from some of the harsh realities of life that some have to endure.

[Roger]

Brilliant read...v inspiring!
A man who chose not to be a victim to his circumstances and saw the best in everything!
Well written!

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best autobiographies I have ever read. The life story of Ray Avery is uplifting and inspirational. He married late in life and now has 2 wonderful children.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good read. I am planning on buying a copy for my Dad and my husband. This was amazing. Loved it! read in two days

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very readable and inspirational

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of you unfamiliar with the name, which I imagine would be most, Mr Avery was born and raised (if this is the correct term) in England but then immigrated to NZ. I had never heard of him before but this came highly recommended from a friend and I am glad I gave it shot.

This is truly a pretty remarkable story about one man's abusive and neglectful upbringing, which eventually sees him sent to a home, where an abused friend takes his own life and then Avery finds himself homeless and living underneath a railway bridge but always being positive, resourceful and hard working he somehow overcomes great odds and makes good, studying, learning, bettering himself becoming a scientist.

Fast forward to x amount of decades later and now he is heavily involved in helping countless people and children around the world with his inventions, generosity and time. A thoroughly engaging read that really does inspire as much as it provokes thought.

[John]

Good bio on what he has achieved after a difficult start