Andrea Munro, currently an artist and meditation instructor, was born to her parents, Alice Munro and James Munro.
Alice and James had three daughters: Sheila, Jenny, and Andrea Munro. They also had a daughter named Catherine, who died at birth.
Highlights
- Andrea Munro was born to Alice Munro, a renowned Canadian short story writer, and James Munro, a legendary bookstore owner.
- Andrea’s father, James, fulfilled his dream of opening Munro’s Books in Victoria in 1963. However, their relationship ended shortly after that.
- In a first-person essay, Andrea Robin Skinner shared a heart-wrenching story regarding indecent activities by Stepfather Gerald Fremlin.
Andrea’s mother, Alice Munro, was a renowned Canadian short story writer who revolutionized the short story’s architecture and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013.
Andrea Munro’s Mother, Alice, and Father, James Munro: A Literary Journey and the Birth of Munro’s Books
As mentioned, Andrea Munro is the youngest daughter of acclaimed Canadian author Alice Munro and her first husband, James Munro.
Andrea’s father, James, was Alice’s first husband, and they were married in 1951. James worked at T. Eaton Company then but had always dreamed of opening a bookstore.
When the family moved to Victoria in 1963, the opportunity to open a bookstore presented itself. James’ then-wife, Alice, encouraged him to pursue his dream.
After working for around 12 years, he resigned in 1963 and opened Munro’s Books.
Tragically, even though the bookstore Alice and James founded became legendary, their romance didn’t continue, and in 1972, the couple decided to part ways.
After the divorce, James found companionship with artist Carole Sabiston, who was with him at the time he took his last breath on November 21, 2016.
Alice also found love again and married her second husband, Gerald Fremlin.
Andrea Robin Skinner Reveals Mistreat by Stepfather Gerald Fremlin in Heart-Wrenching Essay!
In a first-person essay, Andrea Robin Skinner mentioned that her mother, Alice Munro, stayed in her marriage to her second husband, Gerald Fremlin, even after being mistreated.
Skinner expressed her desire to share her story to provide Canadians with a more subtle view of Alice, who was celebrated as a literary icon.
“I wanted my story to be part of the narrative people tell about my mother,” she wrote. “I never wanted to see another interview, biography, or event that didn’t confront the reality of what happened to me and acknowledge that my mother, upon learning the truth, chose to stay with and protect my abuser.”
Andrea Skinner
She detailed in the Star that the mistreatment started in 1976 when she was nine years old, visiting her mother in Ontario for the summer after spending most of the year in British Columbia with her father.
She recounted how Fremlin climbed into her bed and initiated physical contact while Munro was out of the house.
Moreover, Skinner shared that she initially confided in her father and stepbrother about the incident but didn’t inform her mother at that time.
As no one took any action, Fremlin continued to expose himself to her and proposition her for a physical relationship until he lost interest when she reached her teenage years.
However, some years after the incident, when she was in her 20s, Skinner wrote a letter to Munro detailing Fremlin’s ab*se, but she received no sympathy from her either.
Skinner endured “private pain” for many years due to Fremlin’s predatory behavior, which led to bulimia, insomnia, migraines, and dropping out of an international development program at the University of Toronto.
Additional Information
- Fremlin was convicted of the it in 2005 and remained married to Alice Munro until he died in 2013.
- Alice Munro died at her residence in Port Hope, Ontario, on May 13, 2024, at 92. She had been battling dementia for over 12 years.
- Upon winning the Booker Prize, the committee judges praised Alice Munro’s works. They described them as possessing “as much depth, wisdom, and precision to every story as most novelists bring to a lifetime of novels.”
