Author and residential school survivor Joseph (Augie) Merasty, 87, died Monday morning in Prince Albert, according to a news release from University of Regina Press.
Merasty was 86 years old when his first book, The Education of Augie Merasty: A Residential School Memoir, was published in 2015. A new edition is set for release this week.
He experienced physical and sexual abuse at St. Therese Residential School near Sturgeon Landing. He spent nine years there from the age of five.
Merasty wrote his memoir while living on the streets of Prince Albert, struggling with alcoholism, dementia and prostate cancer. Author David Carpenter helped him through the writing process.
Merasty’s memoir is the subject of One Book One Province, a provincial book club-like program by the Saskatchewan Library Association, taking place in March.
