Raymond Fraser
1941-2018
Raymond Joseph Fraser, 77, B.A., ONB (Order of New
Brunswick), D.Litt (St. Thomas University), writer and poet, story
teller and singer, passed away in Fredericton, NB on October 22,
2018.
Ray authored 13 books of fiction, a memoir, two biographies
(including the acclaimed life of light-heavyweight boxer, Yvon
Durelle, The Fighting Fisherman), and six collections of poetry. He
edited the anthology of Atlantic Canadian writers, East of Canada, and
three literary magazines—Intercourse, Pottersfield Portfolio
and The New Brunswick Reader. Dozens of his poems and short
stories have been featured in Canadian magazines as diverse as
Canadian Forum and Weekend Magazine, and in many academic
journals. His poems, essays and stories have also been
included in 16 North American anthologies. He is a subject
in several books and graduate theses. A number of his
stories and poems have been aired on CBC radio and
television. His play The Heart Sound was performed by
Montreal’s St. Joseph’s Theatre
Group.
Ray was born May 8, 1941, in Chatham, NB, son and third child
of Ursula (Graham) Fraser and Robert Fraser. Besides his parents, he
was pre-deceased by sisters Carmel (John Greatrix) and
Helen.
He was educated in Chatham at St. Michael’s Academy, St.
Thomas High School and St. Thomas University. As a youth, he was an
athlete, playing both baseball and hockey. In university, he played
with the acclaimed St. Thomas Tommies, always one of his happy
memories. In later years, he was also a golfer, a cyclist and an
enthusiastic walker. Throughout his life, he’s been a dedicated
spectator of hockey, baseball and, more recently,
basketball.
Ray’s muse claimed him early and he knew from a young age
that he would spend his life telling stories, through poetry, novels
and short stories. When he graduated from St. Thomas, he taught high
school for a year in Bellisle, NB, and then moved to Montreal where he
became immersed in the literary scene that was active in the city in
the ’60s.
For a paycheque, he worked for a number of years as an
editor, chief staff writer and freelance writer for the tabloid
newspapers, among them, Midnight, which survives today on supermarket
shelves as the Globe.
While pursuing his own writing, Ray founded Intercourse:
Contemporary Canadian Writing (1966-1971) a seminal “little
magazine” in the development of modern-day Canadian literature
journals. Such literary luminaries as Leonard Cohen, Irving Layton,
Alden Nowlan, Elizabeth Brewster, Fred Cogswell, Al Purdy, Hugh Hood
and Al Pittman all contributed to Intercourse during that
time.
In 1971, Ray and fellow authors Hugh Hood, John Metcalf,
Clark Blaise and Ray Smith established The Montreal Story Tellers
Fiction Performance Group, which did readings in high schools around
the Island of Montreal.
During the ’70s, he and his then-spouse, Sharon, travelled in
Europe, most extensively in Spain where they often stayed for lengthy
visits.
Some of Ray’s happiest memories were of the times he spent
aboard his converted fishing boat, Spanish Jack, plying the waters of
his beloved Miramichi River and often anchoring at the mouth of the
Black River, near the land and the elderly house that he later bought
and where he and Sharon lived for a number of years.
He lived again in Fredericton, then in Paris and Montreal
before returning to Fredericton where he settled permanently and did
some of his most satisfying and prolific work. While in Fredericton,
he mentored young aspiring writers as Writer-in-Residence at
Fredericton High School.
As well as the Order of New Brunswick and the honourary
degree, Ray was the recipient of New Brunswick’s inaugural
Lieutenant-Governor’s Award for High Achievement in
English-Language Literary Arts in 2009. An earlier book, The
Bannonbridge Musicians, was runner up for the 1978 Governor
General’s Literary Award for Fiction. In 2007,
When the Earth Was Flat earned The Bernell MacDonald Prize as well as
the Lion’s Head Best Book of the Year Award. Five
of his books are listed in the 2009 publication, Atlantic
Canada’s 100 Greatest Books, a distinction shared by only
three other authors. This year he was awarded the Senate
Sesquicentennial Medal. Ray also received a Woodcock Grant
from the Canadian Writers’ Trust, four Canada Council Grants
and six New Brunswick Arts Branch Creation Grants.
Many thanks to the dedicated staff at the Hospice House in
Fredericton and his medical care givers, to his loyal friends who
spent time with him until the end, and to the organization that not
only saved him but added value to a life well-lived. Ray joined
Alcoholics Anonymous 35 years ago and never looked back. It added
another dimension to his life and deepened his understanding of human
nature.
Ray is survived by nieces Cheryl (Greatrix) Chase (Robin) and
Nancy (Greatrix) Tremblay; nephews Mark Greatrix and David Greatrix;
by his former spouse Sharon Fraser (Dan O’Connor); by long-time dear
friend and supporter, Cynthia Losier; and by many friends, fans and
readers, both near and far.
A gathering to celebrate his literary legacy will be held at
McAdams Funeral Home on Thursday, October 25, 2018 from 7 –
9 pm. A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Michael’s Basilica
Catholic Church, time and date to be determined. Interment will take
place at St. Michael’s Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please make a
donation in Ray’s memory to the charity of your choice.
www.mcadamsfh.com
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Raymond Fraser 19412018..
Death notice for the town of: Fredericton, Province: Nouveau-Brunswick