Entertainment
Alice Munro's daughter reveals sexual abuse by stepfather, says mother stayed silent
Canadian author Alice Munro established a celebrated and award-winning career with her short stories. However, more than a month after Munro’s death, her estranged daughter says that the writer failed to acknowledge one key narrative: Her second husband was a child sex abuser.
Andrea Robin Skinner, one of Munro’s three daughters with ex-husband James Munro, revealed in an opinion column for the Toronto Star published Sunday that she was sexually abused by her stepfather, Gerald Fremlin. Skinner also alleged that her mother stayed quiet and remained married to Fremlin, despite knowing about the abuse.
“She was adamant that whatever had happened was between me and my stepfather. It had nothing to do with her,” Skinner wrote.
In the column, Skinner said that Fremlin assaulted her when she was 9 years old in 1976, the same year Munro married the geographer. Skinner said the abuse occurred at the author’s home in Clinton, Ontario, when her mother was out and she was left alone with Fremlin.
When Skinner returned to her mother’s Clinton home every summer as a child, Fremlin made “lewd jokes, exposed himself during car rides, told me about the little girls in the neighbourhood he liked and described my mother’s sexual needs” when they were alone, she wrote.
“At the time, I didn’t know this was abuse.”
Fremlin allegedly also had exposed himself to a friend’s 14-year-old daughter, but he denied those allegations. When she was 25, Skinner wrote a letter to her mother detailing the abuse she had experienced. Munro was not sympathetic, Skinner said. After briefly leaving Fremlin, Munro told Skinner of her husband’s “friendships” with other children and said she “had been betrayed.”
“When I tried to tell her how her husband’s abuse had hurt me, she was incredulous,” Skinner wrote.
After her revelation, Skinner said, Fremlin allegedly threatened her if she sought help from police, wrote letters to her family and blamed her for the abuse, describing her as a “homewrecker.” Despite the threats, Munro reunited with Fremlin, Skinner said.
Skinner said she finally brought her complaint to police when she was 38. Fremlin was charged in 2005 with “indecently assaulting” her in the summer of 1976. He pleaded guilty that same year and was sentenced to two years of probation, she said. He died in 2013.
Skinner, who sought therapy so she could move forward from her abuse, said she went no-contact with her mother after the birth of her twins, and never reconciled with her.
In 2013, Munro won the Nobel Prize in literature. The achievement followed decades of works, including “Lives of Girls and Women,” “What Is Remembered” and “Dear Life,” that garnered Munro praise from literary contemporaries including John Updike and Joyce Carol Oates. Skinner said she wanted her story of abuse to “become part of the stories people tell about my mother.”
“I never wanted to see another interview, biography or event that didn’t wrestle with the reality of what had happened to me, and with the fact that my mother, confronted with the truth of what had happened, chose to stay with, and protect, my abuser,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, that’s not what happened. My mother’s fame meant the silence continued.”
Skinner said she had informed several members of her family, including her siblings and her father, about the abuse. Now 57, Skinner said the “healing continues.” She wrote about her work with an organization that supports survivors of childhood sexual abuse.
Munro died May 13 at her home in Port Hope, Ontario. A cause of death was not revealed at the time. She was 92. Skinner wrote that she grieved the loss of her mother, and that “was an important part of my healing.”
A staff report
Genre: Action/Adventure, Suspense/Thriller
Release Date: Friday, July 19, 2024
Director: Steven Harper
Starring: Edgar-Jones, Powell, Ramos
Rating: ★★★★☆
As storm season sweeps across the silver screen in “Twisters”, director Steven Harper delivers a gripping tale of adrenaline-fueled action set against the tumultuous backdrop of Oklahoma’s tornado alley. With an impressive 80% fresh rating on the Tomatometer, this film promises a thrilling ride for audiences seeking heart-pounding suspense and breathtaking visual effects.
The story centers around Kate Carter (played by Edgar-Jones), a seasoned meteorologist turned cautious researcher in New York City, haunted by a traumatic tornado encounter from her college days. Drawn back into the tempestuous world of storm chasing by her friend Javi (Ramos), Kate finds herself confronting not only the fury of nature but also her own fears.
Enter Tyler Owens (Powell), a charismatic social-media maverick whose daredevil antics and thrill-seeking escapades with his crew make him a viral sensation. Together, Kate, Tyler, and their teams embark on a daring mission to test a revolutionary tracking system amidst unprecedented storm activity.
Harper masterfully intertwines elements of action, adventure, and suspense as the storm season escalates to unprecedented levels of intensity. The visual spectacle is nothing short of breathtaking, with jaw-dropping tornado sequences and high-stakes encounters that keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
The cast delivers compelling performances, with Edgar-Jones portraying Kate’s internal struggle and determination with depth and vulnerability. Powell brings charisma and a hint of recklessness to Tyler, balancing the film’s emotional core with adrenaline-pumping excitement.
Supporting characters, including Javi and Tyler’s crew members, add layers of camaraderie and tension, enhancing the film’s dynamic ensemble. The chemistry between the leads feels genuine, grounding the narrative amidst the chaos of nature’s fury.
While “Twisters” thrills with its action-packed sequences and impressive visual effects, it also explores themes of courage, redemption, and the relentless pursuit of scientific discovery. The storm-chasing backdrop serves not only as a canvas for thrilling set pieces but also as a metaphor for confronting one’s past and embracing the unknown.
In conclusion, “Twisters” (2024) stands out as a must-watch summer blockbuster, blending pulse-pounding excitement with compelling storytelling and standout performances. Whether you’re a fan of disaster epics or simply seeking an exhilarating cinematic experience, buckle up for a ride through the eye of the storm with Kate, Tyler, and their fearless crews.
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Larry Vallon, the longtime concert executive for AEG and others who turned the Universal Amphitheatre into a regional powerhouse, has died. He was 77.
A representative for AEG confirmed Vallon’s death on July 14 due to complications from Alzheimer’s.
Vallon’s career in concert promotion spanned five decades, beginning with a stint as a page on Bob Eubanks’ “The Newlywed Game.” He went on to work for promoters like Wolf and Rissmiller Concerts and founded his own firm, Larry Vallon Presents.
He spent 23 years at the firm that became Universal Concerts (and later House Of Blues Concerts), where he worked under longtime mentor and Hollywood mogul Lew Wasserman. He booked shows for A-list acts including the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and the Who, and won Pollstar’s Talent Buyer of the Year award four times.
Locally, Vallon renovated and ran the former Universal Amphitheatre in the late ’80s, making it into a globally recognizable venue for acts like Frank Sinatra and Linda Ronstadt, who each had residencies there. Under Vallon, the venue was a popular site throughout the ’90s for acts like Maná, Juanes and Julio Iglesias (who played an 18-date run there), helping to seed the growth of Latin and Spanish-language music in the U.S.
Vallon moved to AEG in 2004, and spent 15 years at the company before retiring in 2019. While at Universal in 1984, Vallon had hired future AEG Presents Chief Executive Jay Marciano, who told Hits Daily Double, “He was a friend, mentor and the big brother I never had, the most positive person I have ever known, and he could really make me laugh. My life is so much better from having known him. Loved that man.”
Vallon is is survived by his wife, Claudia; daughters Vanessa Vallon and Kelly Vallon Ciccotti; and son-in-law Matt Ciccotti.
“Operation Undead” is an excellent zombie movie, both for the action and horror, but also for its anti-war and historic comments
As we have mentioned before, the zombie genre is one that has been done to death throughout the history of modern cinema. However, a number of filmmakers who still decide to deal with the concept, manage to find new elements to add, in one of the reasons zombies keep going (pun intended). Thai Kongkiat Komesiri is definitely among those.
The film begins in 1939, during World War II in Chumphon Province, where Mek, a new sergeant, just learns that his girlfriend is pregnant. In the meantime, his younger brother, Mok, is in the Youth Soldier unit, and as war has not yet hit the area, spends his time having fun and shenanigans with his fellow soldiers. Alas, it is at that moment that the Japanese forces approach the area, and the whole population face death and destruction. The Japanese, however, apart from taking over the province for strategic reasons, they have also decided to test a new biological weapon on the locals. The result is a superhuman horde of Thai soldiers that function like zombies, but a number of them still retain their conscience. Not to mention they have a leader. Eventually, Thai and Japanese forces declare a ceasefire to deal with the threat, and Mek receives a special covert mission to clean up the area alongside a Japanese combat unit, unaware that this might include his own brother.
The uniqueness of Kongkiat Komesiri’s approach to the zombie trope is actually multifold. Evidently, the most obvious one is the fact that the zombies still have a brain and can think and feel, while the fact that they are organized under the leadership of a ‘commander’ adds even more to the threat they present to the humans. More impressively though, is the way the filmmakers use zombies to show the dehumanizing nature of war, or even civil war one could say, as this time brother faces brother. Furthermore, the accusation towards the Japanese for the experiments using humans they undertook during the various military expeditions, is also palpable.
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Lastly, and probably even more impressively, the parallel with Thai history during WW2 is quite eloquent in a rather intelligent approach. Thailand actually made an agreement with the Japanese that led to an armistice and military alliance treaty that allowed the passage of Japanese troops towards British-held Malaya and Burma. After the invasion, the cooperation continued, and eventually led to the government splitting into two factions, one Pro-Japan and and pro-Allies. As the actual war hit the country very briefly, the victims were very few but Thais suffered deaths due to diseases that reached more than 5,500 thousand. Evidently, the parallel with the story could not be more obvious.
All the aforementioned, as much as the impact of what the two armies and the zombies are doing on the area, to the locals, induce the movie with an intense sense of drama, which works quite well most of the time. Unfortunately, on a number of occasions, and more towards the end, the movie goes into intensely melodramatic paths, something that definitely detracts from its impact. At the same time, this element, the zombies, and the anti-Japanese sentiment is probably what will make the movie popular in Korea, with K-Movie entertainment already having purchased the rights.
The acting by the two main protagonists is quite good. Nonkul as Mek and Awat Ratanapintha as Mok are quite good in their antithetical roles, while handling the drama in a style fitting to the overall approach of the narrative. Supitcha Sangkhachinda as Mek’s girlfriend is also good, particularly in the dramatic parts.
Expectedly, though, “Operation Undead” is also about the action, and in that regard, it definitely thrives. The zombies look as scary as possible, with the occasionally frantic editing that results in sequences of thunderous speed adding much to this element. The brutality is found in large proportions, adding to the entertainment the movie offers, in a style that zombie lovers will definitely appreciate. The sound is also greatly implemented, adding to the agony and tension, while the job done in the cinematography does not omit highlighting the beauties of the area.
Despite the fact that it definitely goes a bit too strong on the melodrama, “Operation Undead” is an excellent zombie movie, both for the action and horror, but also for its anti-war and historic comments that definitely deem it a stand out in the category.
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