WARNING: This article contains references to sexual abuse.
For the mayor of the municipality where Alice Munro spent much of her adult life, the monument honouring her outside the local library should be left unchanged — an affirmation that for Clinton, Ont., the Nobel laureate will always be considered a cherished member of the community.
But Jim Ginn, the mayor of Central Huron, conceded that he would consider amending the installation if public outcry mounted following recent stunning revelations that Munro chose to remain married to her second husband after learning he had sexually abused her daughter.
“It was shocking,” said Ginn, when asked about the disclosures made on Sunday by Andrea Robin Skinner, Munro’s daughter with her first husband, James Munro.
In a newspaper column, Andrea Robin Skinner tells her story of suffering sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather, Munro’s second husband. Skinner alleges that when Munro found out about the abuse years later, the late famed Canadian writer said it had nothing to do with her.
Writing in the Toronto Star, Skinner said her stepfather Gerald Fremlin sexually assaulted her in the mid-1970s — when she was nine — and continued to harass and abuse her until she became a teenager.
Skinner wrote that in her 20s she told her mother, who died earlier this year, about Fremlin’s abuse but that it stayed a secret for decades.
Fremlin was convicted of indecent assault in 2005, at age 80, at a court in Goderich, 20 kilometres from Clinton.
Alice Munro and Fremlin lived together in Clinton until Fremlin’s death in 2013, the same year Munro won the Nobel Prize in literature, the only Canadian writer to ever earn the award.
The Current19:56Alice Munro’s daughter reveals stepfather’s abuse
Andrea Robin Skinner, daughter of Canadian author Alice Munro, told the Toronto Star she was sexually abused by her stepfather as a child, but her mother chose to support her husband. Guest host Mark Kelley talks to Star reporter Deborah Dundas; and Maria Barcelos, who works with survivors of sexual abuse.
“I think her legacy is always going to be her unique ability to write stories,” Ginn said, adding that “in the end that is how we will remember her.”
The two-piece monument outside the library in Clinton includes a metal bench acknowledging Munro’s Nobel win and a coffee table with four of her book titles stacked on top.
Small garden, short story festival named after Munro
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Ginn said he couldn’t foresee making changes to the structure in light of the recent revelations, because Munro will always remain “a Nobel Prize winner.”
But if faced with growing calls for a change after what has now been made public, “then we would consider it,” he said.
The mayor also praised Skinner for speaking out but hoped the revelations would not tarnish Munro’s literary achievements.
“I hope she is able to heal from those wounds of the past,” he said of Skinner. “And I hope Alice maintains her legacy and her high esteem in the literary world.”
In addition to the monument, Munro has a small garden and short story festival named after her in nearby Wingham, about 35 kilometres northeast of Clinton.
“At this time, North Huron council has not yet discussed the matter,” said Paul Heffer, reeve of North Huron Township, in a brief email to CBC News when asked if the municipality was considering similar alterations.
The Alice Munro Literary Garden opened in 2002 in downtown Wingham, spearheaded by the Wingham Horticultural Society and its then president, Verna Steffler, a friend of Monro’s for more than 30 years.
Reached on Tuesday in Wingham, Steffler said she was shocked by Skinner’s op-ed and “didn’t have a clue” about what Fremlin had done, but said she hoped the article would spur more victims of sexual abuse to come forward and be supported.
“I think the fact that it’s now going to bring the family together is what’s important as well,” she said, referring to Skinner’s siblings. “If it brings them all together as a family to work together to help her, then that’s what she needs. She needs support.”
‘We have to worry more about Andrea’
Steffler said she knew of Skinner, but had never met her in person. She said she also didn’t know Fremlin well and only met him a few times when visiting Alice.
Although no longer involved with the garden or festival, which she helped start more than 20 years ago, she said she didn’t expect either would be changed in the wake of the Skinner’s article.
“I think we have to separate the fact that what we are celebrating with Alice is her story writing,” Steffler said, adding that Skinner’s father, Jim Munro, also knew of the abuse but didn’t do anything.
“She should have been more approachable by her daughter, but we can’t do anything about it now. Both Gerry Fremlin is dead and Alice is dead. We have to worry more about Andrea now.”
London Morning7:05Alice Munro’s grim family secret
Alice Munro fans were shocked and distressed to hear her daughter tell of sexual abuse at the hands of Munro’s second husband Gerald Fremlin. To find out more about how this revelation sits with other victims of sexual abuse, London Morning spoke with Katreena Scott, Western University’s Academic director at the Centre for Research & Education on Violence Against Women & Children.
Munro spent her final years away from Clinton. Ginn said there were times, before her departure, that passing her on the street could stir excitement.
“Disbelief, you know, that someone from a small town of 3,000 people could be a Nobel Prize winner, and walk the street and say hi to you,” he said.
Days after Skinner’s story became public, few people in Clinton were prepared to discuss Munro. Some said they had not known about the abuse, others said there were aware of the story but declined to comment.
Karen Philips, a longtime Clinton resident, said she would often see Munro walking on the street but that she rarely interacted with others.
“She was very nice lady, very well dressed, very confident in herself, and you see her going in the stores, and not acting like she is somebody special, just a normal person,” she said.
For Philips, Munro’s legacy remains intact.
“It must have been awful for (Skinner) but that is all I can say,” she said. “I don’t think anything less of [Munro].”
For anyone who has been sexually assaulted, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.