Where were you when you heard that Sue Johanson had died? Did you text someone with the news, or did someone text you? Today's episode is about grief. Host Michelle Fischler, who has openly credited her career as a certified sex therapist to sex educator Sue Johanson, recounts the moment she found out about Sue's passing through a text from her 15-year-old son. Michelle has never met Sue and never will, but the loss of Sue Johanson will leave a lasting impact on Canadians.
Where were you when you heard that Sue Johanson had died? Did you text someone with the news, or did someone text you? Today's episode is about grief. Host Michelle Fischler, who has openly credited her career as a certified sex therapist to sex educator Sue Johanson, recounts the moment she found out about Sue's passing through a text from her 15-year-old son. Michelle has never met Sue and never will, but the loss of Sue Johanson will leave a lasting impact on Canadians.
Show Notes
[00:00:00] Introduction
[00:00:15] A Fond Farewell to "Sex with Sue"
[00:02:00] The Magic of Sue Johanson
[00:03:02] Sue Johanson's Influence on Sexuality Education
[00:04:31] Gratitude and Farewell
[00:05:04] Conclusion
[00:00:00] Hi everybody. On June 29th, 2023, Sue Johanson died.
[00:00:15] You know how there are those moments where a really big thing happens, whether it be a major loss in your life or a big disaster in the world that you can completely remember exactly what you were doing? Well, this is what's going to happen for me on Thursday, June 29th. I remember coming home, and I received a message from my 15-year-old son saying, "Noooooooo!!!!!!!!" with a whole bunch of "o's," and then about eight faces with an emoji crying, and then it said, "Sex with Sue."
[00:01:17] And so I went on CBC news, and it was true, Sue Johanson died. And what was so lovely was that I was getting all of these lovely messages, whether it be through just texts and messages on Instagram with such lovely messages. It was as though a family member had died. And yeah, when I heard, I felt a lot of sadness as though somebody I knew who was close to me died.
[00:02:00] And then on the other hand, Sue Johanson has always been this magical person that, you know, kind of lived in my brain. And so it wasn't like that person was going anywhere. That person is still there. That person is exactly where they were, you know, before I found out that she was dead. And where they are now. [00:02:30] I think the only difference is that I'll never meet her, which is kind of sad, but I almost kind of did meet her, but not exactly in a direct way, but pretty indirectly when I interviewed Lisa Rideout, who was the director of the Sex Sue film. That film is amazing, and you need to watch it. You will love it.
[00:03:02] You will laugh, and you will probably cry at some points. So yeah, I feel sad, but I also feel like she's still around. And I think if you look at, and I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but sometimes I wonder if the reason that Canada is a leader when it comes to sex research, sometimes I wonder if it's because of Sex with Sue, that so many Canadians were touched by her, and I know that she got into the U.S, but she did start here for many years before she became famous in the U.S.
[00:03:51] And now we have these amazing researchers like Lori Brotto, Robin Milhausen, Alex McKay, Carolyn Pukall, Amy Muse, holy cow. And so, when I think of myself and the work that I do, although she's not alive anymore, I truly believe that she created such a clear path for so many of us to stand on her shoulders and continue the teaching that she taught us when we were in our early teens.
[00:04:31] And look what's happened. We have people talking about sex everywhere in really healthy ways. And I like to believe that a huge motivator of that was because of Sue Johanson. And so she really, for me, sums up the saying, "Standing on the shoulders of giants" because she's my giant, and I will be forever lucky that she was a part of my life and that I got to have the opportunity to learn from her.
[00:05:04] Bye.