St. Croix – Considered by many as the Poet Laureate of St. Croix, Richard Augustus Schrader, Sr. died peacefully at his home on St. Croix at 90 years young. A literary giant who was loved, adored and respected by all who knew him, Mr. Schrader blazed a trail of literary accomplishments over four decades that led him to record an intimate history of his beloved Virgin Islands.
“Buck,” as many knew him, was a poet and author of 28 books that told the tales and accounts of life in the islands in an individualistic way that has never before been recorded.
“On this little island we call home, people often come together in small groups at different venues just to talk. They talk about current events and about life in the past. For generations the Frederiksted Fish Market in the west and Gallows Bay in the east have been and continue to serve as springs of culture, from which stories both old and new are ever flowing,” he wrote in the story ‘Marnin Bayside Discourse’ from his towering book of Crucian knowledge Teach A Man To Fish.
Mr. Schrader was a man who lived a quiet life of greatness, a man who loved his fellow man with all his heart, and loved his Virgin Islands with every breath of his being.
“Richard Schrader, a constant gardener, continues to patiently till the rich soil of Crucian Memories…to satisfy our hunger for the precious sounds, sights, and stories of Old St. Croix,” said Dr. Roberta Q. Knowles.
“The Virgin Islands has lost one of its great storytellers and most devoted culture bearers,” remarked Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett. “Richard Schrader spent his life making sure that who we are, including our traditions, our folklore, our history, would never be forgotten.”
He was a man who truly touched and stimulated the minds of thousands with his beautiful words, his loving smile, his one-of-a-kind heart.
There will never be another like him. Rest in Peace my mentor and dear friend.
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