A picture of Marian and her husband John Crow (now deceased) This picture was taken at their apartment in Ottawa on Somerset Street in the early 1990s. Marian and John gave Sue one of the kittens.
Above is a picture of Marian Crow's family: Left to Right: Clowie (Marian's grand daughter), Marian, April and Reme, Marion's son (April is Remee's girlfriend) Clowie is one of their children. They also have a son. This picture was taken in August at the Ottawa International Airport.
Above is a picture of Marian Crow taken in 2005 near Sue's house in Ottawa West near Deschenes Rapids Lookout.Marian is a good friend of mine. I can always count on her to listen to me when I call her. She has a heart of gold. Marian is a very intelligent woman. She went to school and got her M.A.
Marian will tell it to me straight. She is honet, forthright and says what is on her mind. She one of my mentors.
I met Marian when she applied for a job at the Psychiatric Survivors of Ottawa (PSO) I am the founder of the group which now employs 3 staff members full time and it has been going since 1991.
It is run by psychiatric survivors. Marian got a job at Psychiatric Survivors of Ottawa. We became friends and have remained so over many years.
I count Marian as one of my friends and I am glad she is. I have learned alot about life from Marian.
Marian is a kind and caring person. This world needs more Marians.
Sue Clark-Wittenberg
MARIAN CROW INTRODUCES SUE:
Sue has asked me to write a letter to her site to talk about how I know her. First of all, I am a mental health counsellor working at an agency in Northern Ontario.
I met Sue when I was a student at the University of Ottawa, on a student placement as outreach coordinator for the Ontario Psychiatric Survivor Alliance. Sue was a frequent visitor at the office, and we often spoke about her work in advocacy and peer support.
From 1992 until 2002, I coordinated the "customer-as-expert" program in Education Services at the Royal Ottawa Hospital. Sue became one of my frequent, and most valued, speakers.
In this program, current and former psychiatric patients were provided the opportunity to learn presentation skills, help to build presentations, and support to make presentations to Royal Ottawa staff and student groups. There is a video of one of these presentations in which Sue appears at the hospital's library.
Sue is a powerful speaker. Her sincerity and honesty shine through, as well as her anger at how both she and her peers had been treated by psychiatric service providers. Her experience is a common one, but her ability to articulate and communicate her experience is unique.
I have continued to be friends with Sue over the years. Without exception, I have found her to be a tireless advocate for all and any persons who come to her for help. At this time, she has focused most of her energy toward the abolition of electroconvulsive therapy, and her website is built around this purpose. She continues in her own way, however, to help others by providing information, support, and help with navigating the systems on which persons with psychiatric problems become dependent.
I have grown to love, respect and admire Sue. I wish her all the best with her website and book.
Marian Crow, M.A.
Mental health counsellor
Minto counselling centre
Cochrane, Ontario
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