A day in the mind of a genius of inexhaustible

Photo special collaboration, andréanne lemire
The Journal has met Guillaume Morrissette in the room where he writes his detective novels.

Benoît Philie

Sunday, 21 January 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Sunday, 21 January 2018 01:00

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Guillaume Morissette has just finished writing his seventh novel in as many years. He also finds time to teach financial mathematics at the university, to make the mediation for couples in the course of a divorce, strum the guitar, do the accounting, and even… to spend time with family and travel.

The big guy of 42 years old is a true jack-of-all and her schedule is sometimes ” infernal “, he admits, but he loves his life and his business. He describes himself as a “polymath,” a person who masters many knowledge thoroughly.

“I would have to live at least 20 000 years to do everything that I would like to do,” says from the outset the writer he.

This is why he never listens to the tv. “Never. I get 12 to 14 hours per week like that. This is the time that people lose, on average, in front of the screen, ” he says.

Guillaume Morrissette is part of the 2 % of the population is considered gifted. His brain works at a mile per hour, ” he said. And without action, he gets bored quickly.

“Today, I do a lot of different things, because I like it. I am interested in everything, there are no limits to what I can do. I have the privilege of being able to learn everything that I want if I want to do it and explain it to others then. This is my gift in life, ” he says, with conviction.

Like the other

In the crowd, it looks like a person like the others. He swears, makes jokes, in short, it is ” cool “. But, just spend a few hours with him to see his intensity and his love for sharing knowledge.

This is the basic techniques for taming the famous Rubik’s cube, the story behind the creator of the Nobel prizes and inventor of dynamite, Alfred Nobel, or even the provenance of his two cats rex cornish ” hypoallergenic “, that follow their master everywhere, a bit like dogs… nothing seems to escape him.

It transforms any subject into something unique that deserves special attention. And his passions, he knows how to transmit it to others.

Photo Benoît Philie

Guillaume Morrissette teaches financial mathematics at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières. It is seen in front of one of his classes

The teacher

Thursday morning. Guillaume Morissette dons the costume of a lecturer, as he does two or three times a week since he finished his master’s degree in administration at the University of Sherbrooke, in the early 2000s.

Today, he teaches financial mathematics at the campus of Drummondville, Quebec University in Trois-Rivières. An area that they feel passionate about, but that can be heavy for mr. and mrs. all the world.

“I had a teacher flat in this area when I was studying that I have decided to make it interesting. I teach math in a particular way, with drawings. You’ll see, my course is like a cult, ” he says, thereby forcing the suspense.

A few minutes before entering the classroom, he receives a message from a student on his phone. It will not be able to attend a class and is concerned, because the next exam is fast approaching.

“Give me a minute, I’m going to call it. It’s going to reassure her. I am this kind of teacher there, ” he said, putting his phone on his ear.

He then receives a call from a lawyer with whom he does business for contracts of mediation in divorce cases. This time, the couple to be worth several million dollars. Mr. Morrissette is the one that calculates how the fortune should be divided between the lovers fallen.

Midi. It is the time of the course.

In spite of the numerous mathematical formulas listed in the table, the students are captivated by the teacher who mixes with ease, figures, and humor since the beginning of the course.

The material is scrolled quickly.

A student raises his hand : “perhaps It is because I am not smart, but I think I don’t understand,” she said.

The teacher replied immediately : “what is it that you have your generation to always start by saying : I may be stupid not to understand, but… You have the right not to understand !” lance-t-il, seeing the face of disbelief of several students in front of the problem to the table.

Before the young, Morrissette is in his element. It makes them laugh non-stop. However, the subject matter, it may not be funny.

The prof has been appointed as lecturer of the year at the UQTR in 2013. A tribute to the students.

“But some of my colleagues with more traditional do not always agree with my methods of teaching, say,” he explains.

Giftedness

Young, Mr. Morrissette worked well at school and had a facility for learning. “I was the pipsqueak quickly,” he says. It has been sent in the first year after a few months of kindergarten.

Here again, the pace was too slow for him, and to counteract the boredom a daily basis, it bothered him during classes because he ” emmerdait “.

“If you come back in a class of first year, and you say to the students : today we learn in what city we stay in. Ben me, you made me completely lose it. I know for a long time in which city I stay. Talk to me of other things. And there, I was told : Guillaume you bother “, he remembers.

It is only by returning to the secondary school that a teacher suggested he go take a test for giftedness. The teacher had been right.

Mr. Morrissette has then understood why he had never enough to learn, but also to share its knowledge, at the risk of annoying his peers.

Photo taken from facebook

In October, during a session of dedication of one of his books in a bookstore in La Rochelle, France.

Writing, a passion

Back home in Trois-Rivières, after completing his course, Mr. Morrissette moved on to his office, in front of his four computer screens. Four, yes.

“This is mainly to simplify the work with the accounting program that I use to settle the affairs of my wife,” he said. She started her business in 2014 and I have everything mounted from scratch, its accounting system, its accounts, customers, invoices… “

The libraries in his office are filled with books of all kinds. In one corner, a couch and a guitar. He grabs her and sings a passage from one of his compositions.

It is here that the father of two twins, a guy and a girl, spends most of his evenings writing his novels, which he describes as ” stories of wheeling and dealing “. He devotes about thirty hours per week to writing, he says, and has just finished his latest novel.

“I finished my first novel in 2011, to 35 years. I signed a publishing contract in 2013 and then it fell down. It was boom, in mental patient “, he says.

Since then he has written one per year. His next appearance is scheduled for march.

The author has won several awards, including the Price of the first detective novel and the coup de coeur at the Prix Saint-Pacôme du roman policier. “It put me on the map and it gave me a visibility of up in Europe where my books are now distributed. “

This year, he was a finalist in a festival in France, alongside the French author Guillaume Musso.

“I do several trades at this time. It is marginal, but I don’t care completely. This is how I am made, ” he says.

His wife, who returns to work, joins in the discussion, laughing and nodding of the head.

“It is intense to live with a genius, but I love it. I have always been seduced by the intelligence, ” says Guylaine Beaudoin. My chum it is a surprise box. It has me already deliver a tree to the office in the place of flowers… It draws me constantly of my comfort zone. “

Since they are together, Ms. Beaudoin sometimes accompanies his spouse in the dinner Mensa, an organization that brings together gifted students from around the world.

“I tripe on the human. I love observe how they interact. Then, the first dinner Mensa that I have attended, I had the impression that everyone spoke at the same time and nobody listened. But no, everyone followed ! ” she says, still amazed.