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Nationally known newspaper columnist
Christie Blatchford died Tuesday night after being diagnosed with lung cancer in fall 2019. She was 68.
Blatchford was a Ryerson journalism graduate, who worked at both the Ryersonian and The Eyeopener during her time here.
Janice Neil, chair of the journalism school at Ryerson, remembers Blatchford as “fearless.”
Neil remembers Blatchford covered the story of Neil’s son, Jacob, being pushed onto the subway tracks 11 years ago. Blatchford was covering the trial of the man accused of pushing him.
“She managed to find a way to have a very strong passion for things, [while] mostly staying fair and balanced, especially with court [reporting]; because you have to be.”
Liane McLarty, general manager at The Eyeopener, remembers Blatchford for her generosity of spirit. They were neighbours and McLarty worked on a couple of campaigns that Blatchford covered.
McLarty used to work as a dog sitter and Blatchford would often cross the road to give treats to her dogs.
“You could categorically disagree with her but as long as you were honest and fair you could be pals,” she said. “She was the sassy, feisty broad I aspire to be.”
Blatchford covered a wide range of topics; from sports to war. She was inducted into the Canadian News Hall of Fame in November 2019. During her decades of work in journalism, she was at some of the biggest newspapers in Canada, including the National Post, Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.
