The room was buzzing in a way it normally doesn’t, when Richard Wagamese stepped in front of a crowd at the University of Victoria six years ago.
The acclaimed Ojibway writer, who died Friday at the age of 61, was about to deliver the 2011 Harvey Stevenson Southam Lecture — a piece of storytelling about storytelling — that remains vivid in the memories of those who saw it.
“I witnessed maybe the best session of storytelling I’ve ever seen. He was so skilful. He was athletic, the way he moved across the stage. It’s a cliché, but he had everyone in the palm of his hand,” said Bill Gaston, who was chairman of the writing department at the time. “I was an instant fan.”
Wagamese is being remembered for work that reflected the legacy of the residential school system, as well as his generosity and loving spirit.
Storytelling was at the core of who he was, says Victoria’s John Pearce, who was Wagamese’s literary agent and friend for 25 years.
Pearce described him as a warm and generous man, tormented by a past that involved foster care, abuse and homelessness.
“I think he will be seen as one of our finest writers. For many years, he was talked about as one of our finest First Nations writers — and that’s too limiting. Because he did write universally,” Pearce said.
David Leach, chairman of UVic’s writing department, said Wagamese pushed his students out of their comfort zones.
“I think in all of his books, both his novels and non-fiction essays, he had that kind of acute sense of a human voice speaking to you.”
Wagamese was scheduled to give another lecture at UVic in January, but had to cancel due to health reasons.
Wab Kinew, a writer and a member of the Manitoba legislature, said Wagamese became his mentor after the veteran writer reached out on Facebook. Kinew said he was floored, as he was already a fan. “To have a hero reach out and basically step into a mentoring role, I think that’s a powerful example of how we should all be.”
Wagamese’s novel Indian Horse was a finalist in CBC’s Canada Reads in 2013. The story, about a boy abused in the residential school system who finds his release in a love of hockey, is being adapted for a movie.
Wagamese began his writing career in 1979 as a journalist. In 1991, he became the first indigenous writer to win a National Newspaper Award. He also won the George Ryga Award for Social Awareness in Literature for his 2011 memoir One Story, One Song, the Canadian Authors Association Award for Fiction for his novel Dream Wheels in 2007 and the Alberta Writers Guild Best Novel Award for his debut novel Keeper’n Me in 1994.
His latest book, Embers: One Ojibiway’s Meditations, was short-listed for a B.C. Book Prize.
Wagamese’s niece, Rhonda Fisher, said he was removed from his family by the Children’s Aid Society as part of the ’60s Scoop and ended up in foster care in southern Ontario.
