"Schooling wasn't that great for me. I suppose I was a slow learner."
But the Dunedin 67-year-old said when he did start putting words together, and discovered he could actually read, his love of books was born.
"It opened up a whole new world for me."
And for the past 40 years, he has attended every Regent Book Sale, and redesigned his house to include a library with more than 2000 books — mainly non-fiction about world history, politics and travel.
Apart from a few trips to the United States and Canada, he said his travel experiences had been limited so far.
But his travel books had opened up the sights and sounds of many other far-off places, particularly in Europe, which he plans to visit later this year.
"We're heading off to Italy, the Greek Islands and we’ll spend some time in London and Paris.
"I’ve never been to Europe before, but through my reading, I feel like I've been there already.
"I’m looking forward to seeing those places with my own eyes."
While he had a voracious appetite for reading — he often has four books on the go at a time — there was another reason for his love of books.
"When I was in San Francisco about four years ago, I was in a bookshop there, and I was flicking through a book and I found three $US100 notes sitting in between the pages.
"So, that was a good find, and my partner at the time and daughter started to get interested in books after that, and they'd follow me and flick through books, too.
"It's amazing what you find — romantic letters, author autographs, all sorts of things. It's definitely worth flicking through a book."
Yesterday, he bought about 60 books at the Regent Book Sale, which he believed would keep him occupied for the rest of this year.
"I've probably got about 10 more Regent book sales left in me yet, I reckon.
"And when I’m done, my family will get first pick of the books and then the rest will be donated back to the Regent Book Sale."
Money from the sale goes towards supporting the operation of the 98-year-old Regent Theatre, which is run by a charitable trust.
The book sale continues today at the Edgar Centre.
