University to rethink ties to author following revelations

Alice Munro’s alma mater in Canada says it’s considering how to move forward after the Nobel laureate’s daughter revealed she was sexually abused by her stepfather and Munro chose to stay with him, reports The Canadian Press.

Western University has long touted its ties to the short story writer and since 2018 has employed an Alice Munro Chair in Creativity to “lead the creative culture” of the arts and humanities faculty. Acting Dean Ileana Paul says in a statement the faculty is now considering how the revelations from Andrea Robin Skinner, Munro’s youngest daughter, will affect the way the London, Ontario, school celebrates the author’s legacy.

In a first-person piece published recently in the Toronto Star, Skinner wrote that she was sexually abused by Munro’s second husband Gerald Fremlin, starting when she was nine years old. When Munro learned of the abuse years later, Skinner wrote, she focused more on herself than her daughter and ultimately chose to stay with Fremlin. Fremlin was convicted of indecent assault in 2005, at age 80, and even still, Munro stayed with him. She passed away in May this year, aged 92.
Full report on the CP24 site