In remembrance of Norm McEwen

An obituary for Norm McEwen can be found online at the Ottawa Citizen website. The obituary notes: “In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Special Olympics or The Salvation Army.”

In the course of many years of volunteer work on behalf of people who stutter, I got to know Norm well, and much enjoyed working with him.

In a text at another online discussion space, connected with the board of directors of the Canadian Stuttering Association (CSA), I have shared the following thoughts:

Norm McEwen

Norm McEwen. Source: Online obituary; please see link at top of page

Your overview [that is, an overview by his close friend Richard Inomata of Ottawa] of Norm’s life brings to mind the tremendous work that Norm has done on behalf of CSA on so many levels, including in the organizing of the Ottawa conference in 1993 [following the first-ever national conference for people who stutter in Banff, Alberta, in 1991], his key role in development of the CSA constitution, and his tremendously valuable work at the local level in Ottawa – both on behalf of people who stutter and the Special Olympics.

I first learned of Norm’s interest in the development of a national self-help association for people who stutter when I was at the ISTAR clinic in Edmonton in July 1987. At that time, if I recall correctly, the director of the clinic, Einer Boberg, showed me a letter that Norm had written in which he outlined his interest in the creation of a national organization. Or possibly it was on some later occasion, but not much later, that Einer Boberg shared Norm’s letter with me.

Since that time, I have been in touch with Norm and have met him on many occasions, in many cities. I have had the good fortune to work on many productive and successful projects with him.

He will be missed.

His contributions to the cause, his good humour, and his integrity and steadiness will be missed, and will continue to serve as a good memory and source of inspiration for me.

Rest in peace, Norm McEwen.