A Healer and A Builder traces the life and times of Dr. John R. Augustine from his early years in Kitchener, Ontario, through his medical education at the University of Western Ontario in the late 1940s and early 1950s, to his years in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

A Healer and A Builder provides an intimate personal portrait of John Augustine, his family background and the philosophical foundation that motivated a lifetime of extraordinary contributions to his profession and his community.

This is the story of John Augustine's development of a dynamic new clinical education program which attracted medical students and doctors to Thunder Bay and environs and provided the foundation for the creation of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (now NOSM University). It is also the story of how John and his wife Annette worked tirelessly to bring to life local arts and cultural institutions such as the Thunder Bay Museum, the National Exhibition Centre and the Centre for Indian Art.

In this meticulously researched story of a life well lived, Philip Augustine, drawing on family diaries, archival research and memories of his father, gives a fascinating inside account of courtship and family life as well as medical education and health care in the last half of the twentieth century.

A Healer and A Builder is an inspiring account of a notable figure in modern Canadian medical history and a charming and generous person.