We all experience points in our lives that prove pivotal. Those moments are not always obvious to us at the time. For a woman in Maine’s town of Camden, it is not difficult to identify a particular occasion when everything changed.
Patrisha McLean’s personal horror that night immediately and permanently impacted her personal life. Since then, she has brought all of her considerable talents together in ways that are benefiting others, efforts that recently have brought honor to her far beyond the small town in which her story played itself out.
When Women’s eNews announced its first seven individuals chosen as “Twenty-One Leaders for the 21st Century,” Patrisha McLean was among them. https://womensenews.org/2021/07/announcing-our-first-7-honorees-for-21-leaders-for-the-21st-century-2021/?fbclid=IwAR3WMXT7nKiFVZQvwlLgmT3t0wkisuja90avt7LPIpVXxNgQ73WfWqng8ok
Here’s a piece from The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/patrisha-mclean-my-deeply-controlling-ex-husband-don-mclean-1.4407458
And below, an excerpt from the article.
Since that horrific night, the highly regarded photographer and journalist has drawn on her years of professional accomplishment (and on her own personal strength and vision) in focusing on the enormous problem of domestic abuse, and her efforts are positively affecting many people far and wide.
Her personal story has reach, with recognition and response coming from the US and abroad. And because she has made the stories of numerous other survivors part of her own story, so do theirs. Above all, she has helped give them voice.
As a fellow resident of Camden who has watched her sad, shocking, and ultimately triumphant story, I see this woman as a genuine point of light, an inspiration to all of us. Brava, Brava, Brava!
Share her story. Encourage others to do the same. And especially encourage others who have experienced domestic abuse to reach out for help and support—and to use their own voices to help themselves and others!
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Ned Bachus is the author of Open Admissions (Wild River Books, 2017) and of the TURNING POINTS blog on nedbachus.com and on his OPEN ADMISSIONS Facebook Page. City of Brotherly Love (Fleur-de-Lis Books), his book of stories, was awarded the 2013 IPPY Gold Medal for Literary Fiction.
Ned Bachus 