Barbara E. Crook

Barbara Crook is a writer, philanthropist and mental health advocate. Since her first trip to Stratford in 1971 to see Pat Galloway and Nicholas Pennell in Macbeth, she has been hooked on the Festival. Although she never fulfilled her youthful dream of playing Lady Mac, Barbara has always been involved in theatre and the arts. She was the theatre critic at the Ottawa Citizen in the 1980s, where she reviewed dozens of Stratford productions, and later at the Vancouver Sun. She was nominated for a National Newspaper Award for Critical Writing in 1995. After leaving daily newspapers, Barbara taught critical writing in the journalism program at Carleton University.