Five decades of journalism is a pretty long time. But it was totally worth for Christie Blatchford. She had become the voice of the Canadian media. She was strong, fierce and blunt. It’s heartbreaking to mention that we have been informed about the death of such a powerful figure. Christie Blatchford died at the age of 68 due to lung cancer, fighting against the deadly disease since November 2019.
Christie Blatchford
“We’ll miss her always, She was a great gal.” said her brother, Les Blatchford on Wednesday morning.
She was diagnosed with cancer only a few months earlier in November 2019. Christie was a writer in Toronto’s daily newspaper, and she was blunt, to say the least. Today on February 12th, 2020, Canada lost one of the best female writers in their history.
Christie Blatchford’s Personal life:
Christie Blatchford was born in Canada Quebec during 1951 May 20. Along with her family, she moved to Toronto at the age of eleven.
She wasn’t alone in her family to have enjoyed the world of journalism. Her grandmother was herself a writer to the sports column editor for the Vancouver Sun. Similarly, her Uncle was also an editor to Toronto Star. Naturally, Christie Blatchford developed a knack in the journalism area and she did justice to it.
Christie Blatchford loved to host parties:
Serious at her work but, Christie loved throwing large parties. She is known to host parties that are still talked about in history. She has hosted numerous parties in pubs. This shows that she was a very fun-loving person and a very outgoing one, to say the least.
Christie Blatchford was one of Canada’s most prominent writers:
When receiving an award, Christie said in the speech, that ” the most meaningful work in my career was as a war correspondent reporting on Afghanistan,”. She traveled to Afghanistan during 2006-07.
Her stories were deep and she knew it. She used to make sure that the stories were head when an important story didn’t get the attention it deserved. Alan Shanoff, who examined her writings for the sun said that she pushed the boundaries of justice writing. She was brave and strong enough to challenge the law through her writings.
Christie Blatchford’s Education:
Christie Graduated high school in the 1970s from the North Toronto Collegiate Institute. After which she went on to study journalism at Ryerson University which is still one of the top institutes in the world let alone Canada.
Christie Blatchford
Even when she was studying, Christie managed to write for the Ryerson’s student paper named The Ryersonian. Additionally, during her university years, she started to work in places like The Globe and Mail. After a year, they hired her as a full-time writer as a sports columnist.
Marriage, Husband, and Kids
Christie married twice throughout her life. Her first marriage was with Jim Oreto and then to David Rutherford. She wrote about her story with David Rutherford during the time she was working in Toronto Sun. During her whole life, she didn’t give birth to any children.
Christie’s Professional life and Career:
Although she started off as a sports writer, she has worked for deeper and more important issues throughout her life. Christie Blatchford who died at 68 today, had started writing for Toronto Star by 1977 as a feature writer.
When she no longer wanted to work as a news reporter, she looked for a job as a columnist. She wrote about her then, younger boyfriend in a post in Toronto Sun in 1982. She stayed in Toronto sun for 16 years only to return back to The Globe and Mail in 2003. Before she made this switchback, she also worked for the newly launched National post at the time.
Apart from the journalism work, Christie has managed to write 4 non-fictional books throughout her life. They are:
- Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army (2007)
- The Black Hand: The Bloody Rise and Redemption of “Boxer” Enriquez, a Mexican Mob Killer (2008)
- Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us (2010)
- Life Sentence: Stories From Four Decades of Court Reporting Or, How I Fell Out of Love with the Canadian Justice System (2016)
In 2011, she returned back to the National Post and worked with them for the rest of her career. She has made multiple online videos on youtube as well for the national post.
Awards and Recognition:
Throughout her life, she has written about things that people were hesitant to speak or didn’t want to speak about. Some people liked her and some didn’t at all.
However, during the course of her 5-decade career, she has managed to bag some very honorable recognitions. For instance:
- Governor General’s Literary Award in 2008
- National Newspaper Award for column writing in 1999.
- George Jonas Freedom Award in June 2019.
Her articles:
Her articles are something everyone needs to go through. To name some that she has written for the National Post, she has written about Justin Trudeau and widely criticized him.
She has also written about how the elections have become meaningless at the present. These were some of her recent works for the post.
Christie Blatchford health: Suffered From Lung Cancer
Christie Blatchford was on her assignment on the 2019 elections when she has to take a break due to muscle pain. She was later diagnosed with lung cancer and by the time she was diagnosed, she was found to have metastasized from the spine to hips on the bones.
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Christie Blatchford died at 68:
It seems almost too unreal to have lost someone so hardworking and talented but it happened. She was surrounded by her friends and family at the hospital when she took her last breath. Her life as a writer was full of challenges, but she managed to push through it all.
She was somewhat of a perfectionist at work and only wanted the best for her writings. She was a dog lover and also wrote about her favorite one on National Post. Christie left a legacy behind for upcoming female journalists.
