Ethel F. Quiring was born on the Saskatchewan prairies in the Great Depression, was the second oldest of five children. At a very early age she developed interests that were to give character to her adult life – the love of learning, care for others, reading and reciting aloud, frugality, care for the environment, creativity in play, joy in the beauty of nature (robins, meadow larks, prairie crocuses, wild roses, and prairie lilies), and a sense of awe and wonder in awareness of God enhanced by her experience of church with her family.
Authors Ethel Quiring and Hugh Savage
Ethel’s schooling, until the end of Grade 8 was mostly in one-room schools. It was not uncommon in those years for children to end their formal education at the end of Grade 8, and Ethel followed that pattern for one year.
However, she soon became involved on the giving end of education, teaching Sunday School classes, singing in the church choir, and working as a camp counsellor. Then she was admitted to Bible School although she was a year younger than the required age for attendance. She spent three years there and completed Grades 9 & 10 by correspondence at the same time.
Going back to high school, she completed Grades 11 & 12 and won a scholarship that provided enough money so that, together with part time jobs, she was able to finance Teachers College. She was then employed by the Saskatoon Public School Board where she taught for a total of 11 years, including one year as an exchange teacher in Halifax, Nova Scotia. While in Saskatoon, she worked toward University degrees by taking classes at night and in summer schools. She spent one year on campus to complete the requirements for both B.Ed. and B.A. degrees.
In 1966, Ethel went to Eugene, Oregon to work on a Masters degree. It was there that she encountered Individual Psychology which was developed by Alfred Adler. What made it so appealing to her was that it felt like coming home to the orientation that had really been hers but which she had never seen or heard verbalized previously. It became the approach to understanding and working with people that would enrich her life and her contributions throughout her career.
When she returned to Saskatoon, she became a high school counsellor by day and a non-paid parent educator in the evening. Her work was effective and others joined her, leading to the formation of the Saskatoon Adlerian Society. But the real impact of those years was in the lives of teen-agers and parents who learned how to work together harmoniously and purposefully.
It is not uncommon thirty years later to have someone approach her and, with smiles or tears, thank her for what she did in helping them with the issues they were facing. After the Elementary schools in Saskatoon developed their own counselling programs, Ethel became an itinerant elementary school counsellor and worked with children in a number of schools.
After 31 years with the school system, Ethel superannuated and opened her own private counselling service. The years engaged in that activity continued to be productive ones in which she brought support and insight to many clients. It was during those years in private practice that she became acutely aware of the destructiveness of inter-personal control.
As she and her counselling partner, Hugh Savage, discussed the issues around control, they decided to write a book together. Slavery Is Alive And We Are Not Well was the product of that effort.
Now retired from counselling, Ethel is still using her love of people, her commitment to helping them grow, and the skills she had acquired over a life-time to enrich the life of family members, friends, and a constantly expanding group of acquaintances who seek her help with the issues they face.
