Christie Blatchford Bio – Christie Blatchford Wiki

Christie Marie Blatchford was a Canadian newspaper columnist, journalist, and broadcaster. She published four non-fiction books. Blatchford is reported to have died in Toronto on February 12th, 2020 aged 68 from cancer.

Christie Blatchford Age

She was born on May 20th, 1951 in Rouyn-Noranda, Que and died on February 12th, 2020 at the age of 68.

Christie Blatchford Parents

Christie Blatchford’s father was the manager of the rink and community centre. Journalism was in her blood – her grandfather, Andy Lytle, was a sportswriter – and as a child, she wrote and published a newspaper that she handed out at her father’s rink.

Christie Blatchford Husband

Blatchford was married to Jim Oreto in 1977 and their marriage lasted for 4 years until 1981. He later married David Rutherford with marriaged also ending in divorce.

Christie Blatchford Career

Blatchford began her career at The Globe and Mail while still a journalism student at what was then known as Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, working as a part-time copy editor before landing a position as a cub reporter upon graduation in 1973, before her 22nd birthday. She landed a series of scoops that included accompanying the 16-year-old marathon swimmer Cindy Nicholas in her support team’s tiny boat during her swim across Lake Ontario in August 1974. The following year, she landed the plum assignment of sports columnist.

Displeased when a Globe column was edited against her wishes, she then abruptly jumped to the competing Toronto Star, where she worked as a feature writer from 1977 to 1982 and began covering criminal trials in 1978, a beat she would return to throughout her career.

Looking to transition from a news reporter to a columnist, she proposed a light humour column to the Toronto Sun in 1982, chronicling her new relationship with a younger boyfriend, as well as her interactions with other friends and family. The Sun agreed to the proposal, although at a pay cut from her rate at the Star. Blatchford remained at the Sun for 16 years, eventually transitioning back into news reporting and harder news features.

Blatchford moved to the newly launched National Post in 1998. She received the National Newspaper Award for column writing in 1999. She left the Post to return to The Globe and Mail in 2003, working as a columnist there for eight years.

When a young writer asked for guidance from Christie Blatchford, she offered to read her work, meet this stranger, give her direction and connections. That writer was me.

Christine Blatchford wasn't just an excellent journalist, she was also a good person. Thank you, Christie. https://t.co/cqkT5J2WRz

— dahlia kurtz (@DahliaKurtz) February 12, 2020

During four trips to Afghanistan in 2006–07,  she reported on the experiences of Canadian soldiers. Based on these experiences, she wrote the book Fifteen Days: Stories of Bravery, Friendship, Life and Death from Inside the New Canadian Army. The book went on to garner the 2008 Governor General’s Literary Award in Non-fiction.

Blatchford returned once again to the National Post in 2011 and would remain there for the rest of her career. She was also a frequent panelist, commentator, contributor and guest on CFRB radio for several decades.

Blatchford’s book Helpless: Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of Us, concerning the Grand River land dispute, led to some controversy including several members of the student body of the University of Waterloo protesting her speaking engagement and leading to its being cancelled on grounds of security.

In an article in the National Post online on August 22nd, 2011, she criticized the outpouring of support resulting from the death of federal NDP Leader and the Parliament of Canada’s Leader of the Opposition Jack Layton, calling it “a public spectacle”, and referring to Layton’s “canonization”. This caused an outcry toward Blatchford herself. Blatchford’s commentary on the 2013 suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons also led to Parsons’ father accusing Blatchford of victim-blaming.

But if Blatchford was one of the first women to hold that position in North America, she didn’t think much about herself as a groundbreaking feminist. “I think she saw herself as a journalist, first and foremost, and feminism came out of that,” Jim Oreto, her first husband, told The Globe on Tuesday evening.

Christie Blatchford Illness and death

After having to cut short her assignment covering the 2019 federal election campaign due to nagging muscle pain, Blatchford was diagnosed in November 2019 with lung cancer which was found to have metastasized to bones in the spine and hip by the time it was detected. Blatchford was inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame the same month but was unable to attend the ceremony.

Christie Blatchford Death & Cause

Blatchford took leave from writing her column in order to undergo treatment at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and died of the disease after several months of surgeries and chemotherapy. She died in Toronto on February 12th, 2020.

There is some sad breaking news to bring you about a longtime NEWSTALK 1010 contributor. Christie Blatchford has died at the age of 68 after a short battle with cancer pic.twitter.com/oYmMz08myn

— NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) February 12, 2020

Today, we are all mourning the death of Christie Blatchford, a giant in Canadian journalism. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/BFZCSVJqJM

— John Tory (@JohnTory) February 12, 2020