Longtime A.A. member Raymond Fraser passed away in Fredericton on October 22, 2018 at the age of seventy-seven. He was well known in A.A. there and in Montreal, where he had originally got sober.
Ray skilfully used the universal language of poetry to speak to his readers about what life is and what it can be. Over his impressive fifty-year career, he examined the many complexities we face with keen insight and a masterful command of the printed word. No topic was too small or too grand to be dissected, spread out, and examined. The poems (from 1962 to 2017) in his Collected Poems were those he chose in the final days before he passed away.
“One of the most gifted writers I know, and among his gifts are two that are all too rare: a zest for life and a sense of humour. He belongs to the timeless tradition of storytellers.” – Alden Nowlan
Ray was a prolific author with twenty-two books of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry under his belt. As well as the Order of New Brunswick and an Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from his alma mater, St. Thomas University, 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.
“The best literary voice to come out of the Maritimes in decades.” – Farley Mowat
Five of Ray Fraser’s books are listed in Atlantic Canada’s 100 Greatest Books. In 2018 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. In 2019, his final novel, Through Sunlight and Shadows, won the prestigious Mrs. Dunster’s Award for Fiction in the New Brunswick Book Awards.
An active participant in the Montreal Literary Scene of the 1960s, 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 the publication.
“Alcoholics Anonymous saved his life; writing made his life worth living. The ability and the talent and the inspiration to pour that life into his books created the legacy he wanted and earned.” – Sharon Fraser, Ray’s former spouse and his literary executor
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“SALVATION”
Salvation is hard to come by.
For some years I’ve studied the things that will save me.
Adventure will save me.
A new city will save me.
Pills will save me.
Romance will save me.
A steady job will save me.
Free time will save me.
Money will save me.
Poverty will save me.
Europe will save me.
Acclaim will save me.
A beard will save me.
A shave will save me.
A car will save me.
A boat will save me.
A cabin alone in the woods will save me.
A new apartment will save me.
Exercise will save me.
A serious career will save me.
A new philosophy will save me.
A new desk will save me.
A different view out my window will save me.
A change in typewriter will save me.
A balcony will save me.
A swimming pool will save me.
An operation in the hospital will save me.
A war will save me.
Peace and Love will save me.
Hate will save me.
A revolution will save me.
Prison will save me.
A psychiatrist will save me.
The Church will save me.
Children of my own will save me.
Persecution will save me.
Sex will save me.
Control of the world will save me.
A drink will save me.
Prohibition will save me.
It is hard seeking salvation.
There are so many ways to save me.
But none of these have saved me.
And none of these will save me.
Ray Fraser, 1980
